Timber ya’ Build With
It’s an indictment on our modern lifestyles, that even in the relatively laid back world of wooden boats, the calendar is so full that we get a major clash. On the same weekend as the Cup Regatta was in full swing on Port Phillip, over 2000 visitors attended the 23rd edition of the Royal Motor Yacht Club’s Timber Boat Festival.
I like the word timber! When I was a teenager I worked through an English winter on a building site in central London. Not a lot of memories have stayed with me from that time… perhaps surpressed… but I do remember the burley Kiwi foreman yelling “Wood you burn, timber you build with” when I used the wrong descriptor. I wonder what the AWBF thinks of that!
Anyway, due to the clash, we rely on a report from Jaz Rowntree from RMYC (rather than an SWS rep. on the ground). It seems there can be no doubting, it was a massively successful event. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record…
The keys are inclusivity, community, diversity.
It’s not hard!
RMYC 2024 Timber Boat Festival
What a fabulous weekend the festival was! 70 beautiful and unique Wooden Boats assembled at the RMYC Broken Bay for a great weekend of festivities and displays. The RMYC Festival now in its 23rd year is Sydney’s only annual celebration of classic wooden boats. Once again, this year the Maritime Museum brought up the Duyfken tall ship which was a great hit with the crowds.
This year's festival had a great diversity of wooden boats on display, from yachts to cruisers, old to new and trawlers to putt-putts, there was something for everyone.
Although only 1mm of rain was predicted for Saturday, the rain did not let up between 9am and 4pm on Saturday. However, despite the wet weather, over 500 brave spectators came to the show.
Sunday gave us beautiful weather, which saw an increase in attendance at the show. Duyfken recorded over 1300 visitors for the day. Families also made their way to the show, enjoying the various family-friendly activities the festival offered including face painting, and arts and crafts.
At 3pm, our crowd of wooden boat enthusiasts eagerly awaited the results for the overall winners of the show. Prizes were kindly donated by Navico Australia, one of the RMYC’s major partners. A big congratulations to the following boats for their award:
Best in Show Wraith of Odin
Best Dressed Award Martindale
Encouragement Award Longana
People’s Choice Award Duyfken
Coldest Fridge Charity Award Nand V
The fundraising for the weekend was for two great organisations –
Australian Skin Cancer Foundation - who kindly had their Skin Check Truck to the festival, offering all attendees free skin checks.
Marine Rescue Broken Bay & Cottage Point
We are looking forward to next year’s Festival which will again be held on first weekend in November, so put it in your diaries.
All Images by Chris Prestige- Atdusk photography.