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Geelong Wooden Boat Festival 2005

Australian Yachting Awards

The Sports Promotion Award 2008 goes to the Royal Geelong Yacht Club

The RGYC boasts a proud history stretching back almost 150 years, over which time it has strongly supported and promoted the sport of sailing and actively marketed the sport to both the sailing and general community. Examples include interactive websites, press & TV coverage and engaging future generations of sailors through from Beginner Sailing, Adult Introduction to Keelboat Sailing, Youth Training and Sailability. The RGYC hosts a great many regattas, however its pinnacle event, Skandia Geelong Week, has become Australia’s largest sailing event due to its appeal across all levels of yachting enthusiasts from beginner to elite performer. The RGYC also hosts the Geelong Wooden Boat Festival on a biannual basis, with the next Festival planned for 2010.

Flensburg Harbour

Winner Takes Nil

A sailing event where coming second gets top prize

Flensburg Fjord, that part of the Baltic Sea with Denmark to starboard and Germany to port, hosts two traditional sailing events each year attracting close to 100 boats.

Organised by the Flensburg Museum Harbour, free berthing to 'proper' boats is made available for the Flensburg Apple Voyage in September and the Flensburg Rum Regatta in May.  The emphasis is on honest fun in plain working craft, and yachts without some sort of working-boat ancestry are discouraged.

Another sensible rule is that the Museum Harbour prohibits electronic amplification, both of price-giving speeches and of the ensuing music.  The main point of the event is keeping traditional seamanship alive and well, and to do it in good humour.

But best of all, 'gamesmanship' is prevented by awarding a piece of junk to the first boat home in each division, while the second boat home gets 3 litres of high-quality Johannesen's rum.

Would that be something we could contemplate for couta boats?? .... Hmmm

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New Couta Boat Association Class Measurer

An important role in providing accurate measurements to our Class Association and assuring compliance of boats on the Race Register

Tom Cambridge has been appointed as the Couta Boat Association Class Measurer effective 12 April 2008.

His role is to take measurements of the boats and sails and report to the Committee of the Couta Boat Association.

Financial members of the Association can avail themselves of Tom's services free of charge.

His contact details are: 

Mobile 0400 123 990;

email tommyco1@hotmail.com

Please remember that only compliant boats are eligible to be included on the CBA Race Register.

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Wooden Boat Festival Geelong 2008

A great success - All entrants and spectators have promised to return

On a windless, warm, sunny autumn day, the third Whyte, Just & Moore Wooden Boat Festival of Geelong got under way with over sixty boats of all shapes and sizes entered. Even as the shore displays were being erected, interstate entries from South Australia and Tasmania began to arrive, whilst off Williamstown, in similar weather conditions (not conducive to fast sailing!), a fleet was assembling for the Geelong Homes Trophy Race to Geelong. Some 6 hours and 45 minutes later, the SKS36 Boambillee crossed the finishing line to take out line honours.  On handicap it was the cutter Renene first, Bungoona (a carvel sloop) second and the gaff cutter Blackadder was third. Meanwhile at Portarlington, Couta boats were hoping for more wind for the start of their Geelong Homes Race to Geelong. The Southeasterly sea breeze kicked in mid-race allowing Darney to cross the line in 3 hours and 2 minutes, but Wendy was the winner on handicap, with  It's all good 'Nellie' second and Fancy third. So, the assembly was complete! With free entry, the general public entered the marina to see history unfold before their eyes! On display were many boats from the 135 year old, 45 foot gaff rigged cutter Zephyr, the beautiful lines of Windward II to beautifully restored clinker built putt putts like the 14ft. Chinook built in 1951 using the original 1900 plans! One of the star attractions was the diminutive steam driven, clinker built, show pony, the Firefly!  Making frequent trips around the marina, Firefly drew attention to her uniqueness with shrill 'toots' on her steam whistle! Only 16 feet of wooden boat, her little engine (sweetly sounding like a 'sewing machine') propelled her through the water with great gusto! The glistening waters of Corio Bay were ruffled by just light breezes which proved to be the perfect setting for amateur and professional photographers alike as majestic vessels from our past sailed past crowds massed on the marina wall watching the 'Classic Boat Sail Past'. Buzzing in and around the yachts, the gleaming runabouts, Rosita and Lady Susan were possibly upstaged by La Belle Limone looking to be fresh from the shores of Lake Maggiore or Lake Como! A real touch of 'today' was added with a mass of spinnakers on the horizon as the 'Etchell' fleet conducted the Victorian championships on these 'made-for-sailing' waters of Corio Bay. At lunch time, the Powerdrive Marine Corio Bay Classic Wooden Boat Race started in little air movements, too light to even be called a breeze, but enough to keep contestants moving in the race. Once again, Boambillee showed the way to cross the line almost 7 minutes ahead of the graceful Windward II in second place with the sloop Fair Winds being third. The Longboard Winds Corio Bay Couta Boat Cup was a battle between Scoundrel, Fancy and Defiance, but it was more of a raffle as to who found where the next 'puff' was coming from! Doesn't ring true does it, Couta boats looking for a 'Puff'?!!! Although Scoundrel was first home, it was Fancy who won on handicap pushing Scoundrel into second spot leaving third to Defiance. Racing over, it was show time and the public found skippers and crews only too willing to talk about the best boat in the show. THEIRS!!! At the presentation dinner, Hal Sisk, the renowned Irish historian and restorer of the 1894, 36-foot cutter yacht Peggy Bawn spoke of restoration processes and the eventual racing and sailing of Peggy Bawn on American waters. The next Wooden Boat Festival will be held in Hobart in 2009 and the next Whyte, Just & Moore Wooden Boat Festival of Geelong follows in 2010

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The Geelong Wooden Boat Festival 2008

organised by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club

Coming up FAST!

Labour Day Weekend, March 2008

Proudly Supported By

Whyte, Just and Moore Lawyers,  Power Drive Marine,  The Wooden Boat Shop,

Geelong Homes, Four Winds Marine,  Longboard Wines,  Bell Potter Securities-Geelong   

Club Marine, Freedom Bay Cruises, Bakers Delight (Torquay), Barwon Timber

Netpress Printing, John Gill Butchers, Vicsail-Geelong

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How Does The Handicap System Work?

A good question by one of our members

AHC = Allocated handicap (AHC x finishing time = corrected finishing time, therefore handicap placing in the current race)

BCH = Back calculated handicap (simply the handicap performance you sailed to in the current race faster or slower than your AHC)

CHC = Changed handicap (the average of your last 4 allocated handicaps and your BCH from this race becomes your new handicap. So it is a calculation using data from 5 races)

Our results system Top Yacht produces a graph for each boat; it is interesting to see the movement of boats:   the better they go the handicap moves to a higher handicap, the slower the lighter handicap.

I plan to move to a web-based system so you can all see everything on line.

Safety Beach Sailing Club

Couta Boat Association State Titles 2008

conducted by Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club and sponsored by Futuris

To broaden our sailing experience and to show our lovely boats to the public at Mount Martha, the Couta Boat Association State Titles will be conducted over two weekends in February, 2008 in the following format:

• On Saturday, 9 February 2008 there will be a Passage Race from Sorrento to Martha Cove.  This should be interesting as it will, depending on the wind conditions, favour the lower-handicapped boats.  Martha Cove Marina is making a number of berths available for visiting couta boats.  Safety Beach Sailing Club is offering the use of their new clubhouse after the race and is putting on a gourmet BBQ and dessert for $25.00 per person.
• On Sunday, 10 February 2008 there will be a series of races around laid buoys in waters off Safety Beach.
• On Saturday, 16 February 2008 it will be back to more familiar environs with a series of races around laid buoys in waters off Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club.

SAILING INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE ISSUED BY THE SSCBC CLUB CAPTAIN.

The Couta Boat Association would like to acknowledge the goodwill shown to us by the Safety Beach Sailing Club and Martha Cove Marina.

Special thanks also to CBA Committee members Bernie O'Hanlon, Mark Foley and Nigel Abbott for organising this event.

Download - CBA State Championship Participation Form
Download - Futuris CBA State Championship Notice of Race

CYAA

The Cup Regatta 2007

held during Melbourne's spring (3-5 November)

Its 1030 Sunday morning and I’m trying to keep the driving rain off the BBQ long enough to heat up the grill in order to throw on a few prawns.  The day’s sailing has been cancelled as 35knot easterlies roar across Port Phillip. There is a crowd of hungry sailors standing on the deck in danger of getting bored and the first jug has been ordered for the day. One might have been forgiven that the whole regatta was going to be a bit of a write off. But by the end of festivities at midnight on Melbourne Cup Eve nothing could have been further from the truth. Fifteen New Zealanders made the trip across the Tasman to come and sail on the eclectic but beautifully pedigreed Classic Yacht fleet based in Melbourne. Following our invitation to the Lindauer Regatta in Auckland  in February the CYAA created this reciprocal event which is hoped to be an on going over Melbourne Cup weekend. This was Victoria’s opportunity to show case the growing list of Classic vessels racing regularly on the bay.

The long race on Saturday saw light south easterlies and a left over chop just annoying enough to stop the broad bowed boats in their tracks. The fleet of couta boats went off first. Tim Phillips, the Godfather of Couta boat restoration and sailing, had brought up two of his boats from the south end of the bay. The first was the chalky green Muriel, a 1917 Lacco Couta Boat, the second was the magnificent Storm Bay, an Alf Blore  52ft Gaff rigged fishing boat. Muriel was always up the front of the fleet and it was a joy to watch them sail fast and tight with no inches given.

The Classics went off five minutes later. After a neat start the two big gaff cutters, Sayonara (Fife 1897) and Acrospire III (Peel 1924) went left, and  this was the eventual winning move. After more than 4 hours of racing Sayonara with the NZ president Tony Blake on board was just pipped over the line by the Admirals Cupper Mercedes III (Kauffman Miller 1968) but still managed to take a handicap victory.

The plan was for two races on day two but that’s when the weather went bad. Drought ravaged Victoria was grateful for the rain but did it really have to be during our regatta? However once the beer and prawns started to flow it was a great opportunity for old and new friends, Kiwis and Australians, to exchange views, tell stories, and  enjoy one of the major benefits of Classic sailing....the friendships.

By Monday the worst of the weather had passed though and although there was still a damp 22 knots blowing over Hobson’s Bay and the waves were a steep 1.5 meters high. The two laid courses provided a rugged days sailing with Mercedes III making the most of the conditions to take overall victory in the Classic Yacht A division and Col Bandy’s Bungoona winning Classic B. This was a just reward for Col after days of thankless organising and administration which got this regatta off the ground. Hayden Warszewski sailed his Couta Boat Scoundrel not only to Victory in Couta Boat Div A but also champion Boat of the regatta. This earned him a ticket to the Lindauer regatta  in Auckland next February......from the enthusiasm shown at the presentation dinner he won’t be the only Australian on the plane.

The heavy conditions on Monday did cause a little carnage with two of the Tumlarens breaking booms, and worst of all a Port/Starboard collision in which the unfortunate Jim Woods suffered considerable damage to his magnificent 1929 Norman Dallimore Sloop, Windward II .  Its important for the future of such events that those who suffered damage get our support, just as those who had triumphs get our congratulations.

For full results go to http://www.rycv.a

Thistle

Vale Robert (Bob) Johansson

The old man living on the boat

Bob Johansson passed away at the age of 97.  At his request the funeral service was held at the Port Fairy Surf Club which has a beautiful view of Port Fairy Bay.  A good off-shore breeze and outstanding visibility made for a fitting day for Bob's final voyage.

In 1970 he purchased an old couta boat named Thistle.  He built a cabin and moved into his new home - much to the annoyance of his mother Grace who was living in Port Fairy with her third husband Scotty.  He lived in the Thistle until 1987.

Bob's early days in Port Fairy were spent tinkering with the Thistle, helping out at the Port Fairy Aquarium, taking himself out fishing and also going out on some of the other fishing boats.  In his later years, his main occupation was talking to passers-by.

In 1985 Bob had the chance to sell the Thistle to the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney and to purchase a new yacht - the Clan Cameron.  So, at the age of 75 years he set out to Sydney with two friends (Ivan Knight and Cliff Sharpe) and proceeded to sail back to Port Fairy.  It being 'coastal navigation' Bob thought charts and navigation equipment were unnecessary.  The weather, though, thought otherwise and turned on a horrific display - not once but twice.  On the second occasion they were in Bass Strait at night and all they could do was to reef all the sails, batten down the hatches and pray.  In the morning, they were just South of Melbourne and, more by good luck than management, were still in one piece.  Needless to say, Bob had a difficult time convincing his two crew to remain on board!

Bob became an icon of Port Fairy and Moyne River.  Almost all 'locals' knew him.  Tourists would call in and ask for Bob, even whole tourist buses would do so.  He has more press clippings than most celebrities and featured on quite a few current affairs programmes.

He will be sadly missed by a large number of family and friends.

Sail Signature

Class Measurer Available Again

To assure compliance with the Couta Boat Class Rules

The 2007-2008 Sailing Season is fast approaching. 

The Class Measurer, Rod Austin, will continue to measure boats and sails, and only his certified measurements will appear on the Association Boat Register.

In addition, he will also concentrate on safety requirements, as listed under clause 15 of the Class Rules.

Rod will be available at the Wooden Boatshop in Sorrento most Saturdays between Noon and 2:00 pm. 

He can also be contacted for an appointment on 0430 052182 or info@sailmelbourne.com.au

CBA Burgee

2007 President's Report

delivered at the 5th Annual General Meeting of the Couta Boat Association on 9 August 2007

The Couta Boat Association is the Class Association for all Couta Boats and is registered with Yachting Australia as such.  Its responsibility is to preserve the integrity and heritage of this uniquely Australian fishing boat and to promote fair racing between old boats and new boats. 

This past year has been somewhat challenging for the Committee and Couta boat owners.  For the first time the Association appointed an official Class Measurer to provide us with certified measurements of boats and sails.  As you can imagine, this involved a significant time commitment by Rod Austin as the Class Measurer and a lot of good will from boat owners, and it certainly was a test to determine how committed we all really are to the concept of preserving the heritage and integrity of our boats. 

Well, as they say, the rest is history.  There was excellent compliance all around, and I am happy to acknowledge that, without exception, Committee members had to abide by their own Rules and either order new sails or modify existing ones! 

The strict implementation of the 2006 Class Rules resulted in boats that handle better and are safer to sail.  I would like to thank the sail makers for their input and expertise, and for their continued commitment to work with the Class Measurer in this regard. 

The 2007 Class Rules are addressing the potential threat to the boats through interpretation of the Rules beyond their intent when designing and building new Queenscliff-style couta boats.  We are indebted to boat designer Mark Abbott for his valuable input. 

As you are aware, the Couta Boat Association holds the rights to the Couta Boat State Titles, the Couta Boat National Titles and the Portsea Cup, and this past sailing season these events have been conducted by the Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club, as in previous years. 

The Association further endorses the Queenscliff Regatta as part of the Queenscliff Maritime Weekend organised by the Queenscliff Couta Boat Association under the leadership of Brett Almond, as well as the Geelong Wooden Boat Festival organised by the Royal Yacht Club of Geelong. 

We are involved with maintaining the important heritage links to museums such as the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum, the Melbourne Museum and the National Maritime Museum in Sydney, and will continue to forge links with these organisations to promote our boats. 

We have continued our affiliation with the Classic Yacht Association of Australia and look forward to regattas involving their yachts and our working boats. 

The biennial Australian Wooden Boat Festival gave us the opportunity for a social get-together sponsored by the Association in February this year.  The old Hope & Anchor Tavern in Hobart provided a most charming venue and the evening was a joy.  Mostly Tasmania-based couta boats attended the 2007 Festival and we will endeavour to offer assistance to member boat owners willing to display their boats again in future events. 

This year, we bestowed Life Memberships to two prior Committee Members, John Ross who was President and George Kimpton who was the long-suffering Treasurer.  We also bestowed Honorary Membership to our Association to Ian Hunt who, as a Lorne fisherman, contributed greatly to the history of couta fishing.  Sadly Ian passed away on the Ides of March this year.  In addition, we created the Associate Membership category for non-boat owners and crew. 

We took on board comments made at last year’s AGM regarding financial arrangements in relation to our website and took the decision that the Association needed to own and operate its website.  We therefore established coutaboatclub.com.au through Yachting Victoria on 1 December 2006.  I would like you to look at this as a work-in-progress as we will continue to modify its design so that we end up with a user-friendly and interesting site.  I would like to thank Mark Bergin of thinking.com.au for providing the technical knowledge and for giving freely of his time to administer the Association website in the past, and for gifting the domain names couta.net, coutaboat.com and coutaboat.com.au registered by him to the Association. 

I wish to thank the Committee for their support. We have met on a regular basis and have been conducting the Association affairs with diligence and care.  The Committee has welcomed several new members:  Mark Foley who was appointed at the last AGM, Chris Malkin who took over as Treasurer upon George Kimpton’s retirement, and Bernie O’Hanlon who joined us recently.  

Steve Chiodo has produced minutes from our ramblings and has provided sound advice which is greatly appreciated. 

Special thanks needs to go to Nigel Abbott who set up our new website, organised the manufacture of Tee shirts and is an all around nice guy.  He has provided a vital link with the Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club and will continue to do so in his capacity as Club Captain there. 

Our C Register now shows 215 boats, which includes launches and other wooden yachts.  No doubt, this increase in numbers has put our Registrar Peter Sydes much in demand.  We are keen to share information on our boats with the Australian Register of Historic Vessels which endeavours to list boats built prior to 1965 and seek your permission to do so.  

I would also like to thank Tim Phillips for his continued input and enthusiasm and for making the Wooden Boatshop available to sell our Couta Boat Association merchandise.  He provides the Committee with the long-term corporate memory and historic background of all things ‘couta’.  

Finally I would like to thank you, our members, for your commitment to these wonderful boats and for making sure that this unique heritage fleet stays as true as possible to its origins.

Romy Abbott helped to sell 80 of the new release CBA Tee Shirts.

Romy Abbott helped to sell 80 of the new release CBA Tee Shirts.

New Stocks of Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large Tee Shirts.

Available at SSCBC, the Wooden Boat Shop and the Queenscliff Maritime Museum is a range of new CBA Tee Shirts in the colours stone, grey-blue and couta-burgundy which feature our official ‘Couta Boat Club’ logo front and back. These shirts have not been available for several years but have returned for this season's racing. Cost $30.

New CBA Burgees are now in stock at the Wooden Boat Shop, Sorrento. Printed burgee $49.00; Hand-stitched burgee $98.00.