Timber to Hobart- The Annual Audit
CHRISTINA
Entries closed this week for the 78th Rolex Sydney to Hobart. As we did last year, let’s have a quick scan of the timber vessels that are making the trip south. As far as I can tell there are only four genuinely timber boats… unless I’ve missed something.
CHRISTINA
The oldest boat in the fleet is Ena Ladd’s Colin Archer-designed double-ender CHRISTINA, built in 1932. She won the second ever S2H on handicap in 1946 and is back again 77 years later. Interestingly on the CYC website she’s listed as designs by Lars Halvorsen not Colin Archer. More investigation needed. (see above)
ALLEGRESSE
One of the Two handed entries is a Bruce Clarke designed 42ft boat called ALLEGRESSE from the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, NZ. Built of Kauri in 1983, the design is apparently design based on Sir Francis Chichester's Gypsy Moth III. Her elegant lines are reported to promise both sea-kindliness and peace of mind in a design aimed at tackling whatever the sea can throw at her. She's been an Auckland boat all her life and is now owned by Wellington based owners Mike and Tracey Carter.
LOVE & WAR
This boat needs no introduction! but just incase you don’t didn’t know…
LOVE & WAR was designed early in 1973 by the New York firm Sparkman & Stephens to the International Ocean Racing (IOR) yacht rating rule, the IORC MK III and they were the most successful designers to this complex rule at this time. Their designs were always amongst the leading yachts at the unofficial world championship of ocean racing, the Admiral’s Cup event held every two years in the UK. She was built for Queensland businessman Peter Kurts by shipwright Cec Quilkey at Taren Point NSW and launched late in 1973. She was one of the last racing yachts to be built in cold moulded timber construction.
Quilkey had become one of the leading craftsmen for timber yachts and had pioneered cold moulded construction in the mid-1960s starting with Mercedes III, Ragamuffin and Koomooloo, yachts that in their time were to international, state-of-the-art construction.
She has won the Sydney Hobart yacht race three times in 1974, 1978 and 2006 and is only the second yacht to have recorded three wins in the race. If the wind blows from the South…….????
SYLPH VI
Robert Williams is campaigning the Alan Payne designed SYLPH VI, built in 1960, which competed in the Sydney Hobart five times up until 1972 and is making its return to the Great Race after having circumnavigated the globe and spending the past five decades cruising.
