CRAFTSMANSHIP
Overseas news
jAMES NichOLLS
jAMES NichOLLS
AUSTRALIA
Down Under, where the sun shines brightly Two examples of a particularly Australian design also caught my eye: the 2008-built Southerly (26ft 6in / 8.1m) and the 1989 Sylvia of the same dimensions. Both of these craft are what is known as Couta boats and developed from the vessels used for offshore fishing from the Victorian ports of Queenscliff, Port Fairy and Portland during the 1880s, being characteristically transom-sterned, short-ended and beamy. Couta boats were built to catch the local barracouta fish and they gradually took on racier and more sporty lines as the fishermen competed to get their catch back to the market first.
THe MeD
AC yAChts in sydney Three weeks earlier, 70 vessels gathered nearby at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney’s famous harbour. Outside on the water was the newly-restored America’s Cup yacht, Gretel II (KA-3). Fifty years after her first Australian America’s Cup challenge, Gretel (KA-1), the last wooden 12-M built, also bobbed regally in the Sydney sunshine. Another to catch the eye was the superb 1924 Hurrica V. This Charles Nicholson ketch features in the 2013 film The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio. As usual there was a magnificent turn-out of native Halvorsen motor-cruisers and launches.
OBITUARY
Great whites in the Mediterranean
Britton Chance Jr, 1940-2012
ALESSANDRO DE MADDALENA
italian shark specialist Alessandro de Maddalena published this year the most comprehensive study of great whites in the Mediterranean. The result of 16 years of research, it includes all 596 recorded sightings, many from around the Greek islands. Fifty-five attacks (19 fatal) are also recorded. Attacks are rare and the data suggests a decrease in their numbers over the last 20 years. The book costs US$55 (£35) and is available at www.mcfarlandpub.com.
Above left: Classic Halvorsen launches in Sydney Harbour Above right: Couta boat Southerly from 2008
The yacht designer responsible for three winning America’s cup yachts died this October aged 72. his cup designs included major revisions to the wooden 12-M intrepid for her defence against Australian challenger Gretel ii (newly restored, see above) in 1970, as well as Dennis conner’s famous Stars & Stripes (1987). he went on to establish chance & co in Essex, cT, famous for 5.5-M and 6-M racers. his designs have also won the One-Ton cup, Gold cup, 5.5-M Worlds and Astor Trophy. chance, who lived in Lyme, cT, is survived by a daughter. Barry Pickthall, PPL
PPL
Wooden boats of all kinds mustered on 3-4 November at the Royal Motor Yacht Club, founded in 1928. The club is in Newport near Broken Bay, Sydney – one of the Southern Hemisphere’s most beautiful boating waterways, reports James Nicholls. Under the glowering skies, the oldest boat of the 66-strong fleet was the 1897 yacht Heartsease. The 50ft (15.2m) cutter from New Zealand has a remarkable past as a customs boat, not to mention a sinking in the 1940s. Among the motor and sailing vessels was the pretty little steam launch Witch of Endor, while the newest boat on show was this year’s Karman, a speedy looking runabout.
CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2013
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