Cup full of fond memories
FIFTY years ago a team of three Australian yachts arrived in Cowes to take on the world.
Two years earlier, in 1965, Australia’s first challengers for the Admiral’s Cup, Caprice of Huon, Freya and Camille, had been mocked by the British yachting establishment as being too small and oldfashioned, but the Australians went very close to winning the Cup at their first attempt
When the Tasmanian-built Caprice of Huon returned in 1967, this time with Balandra and Mercedes III, the Aussie team was better prepared for the tricky racing in the Solent and the Channel, and the tough Fastnet Race that closes out the Admiral’s Cup series.
They beat the crack threeboat teams from Great Britain, France, Spain and the US by a whopping 107 points.
And just to rub it in, Mercedes III, Balandra and Caprice of Huon finished first, second and third in the individual points score. It was a complete victory, and Australian offshore racing had arrived on the world stage.
In 1985 Hobart yachtsman Don Calvert skippered Intrigue in the Admiral’s Cup and is still winning races in the Castrol 40 one-tonner.
A group of local yachtsmen, all with a connection to the Admiral’s Cup, are now organising a special one-off regatta to mark the 50th anniversary of that first Admiral’s Cup win.
Staged jointly on Sydney Harbour by the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, the racing will be held from December 1-3. There will also be a full social program hosted by the participating clubs.
As important as reuniting the yachts that represented Australia will be the opportunity of bringing the crews together again.
Admiral’s Cup veterans whose original boat is no longer racing will be welcome to join the crews of other boats in the regatta.
In keeping with the “threeboat team” theme, the Admiral’s Cup Anniversary Regatta has three co-patrons: Sir James Hardy, Syd Fischer and Gordon Ingate, all with distinguished Admiral’s Cup records.
Entry is open to any yacht that either represented Australia in the Admiral’s Cup or competed in the selection trials. The records show that more than 60 yachts might qualify for the regatta.
Many of those may no longer be in racing trim and some, such as the legendary Freya, are now overseas. Nevertheless, a fleet of 10-15 is expected, including some from the 1965 and 1967 campaigns, led by the ageless Caprice of Huon and Mercedes III.
Other famous names that might be racing each other again include Camille, Impetuous, Police Car, Salacie II, Challenge, Love and War and Mister Christian.
There will be one race per day — two on the harbour (the Friday and Sunday) and a short offshore event on the Saturday.
Organisers are keen to hear from any yacht owners and Admiral’s Cup crew interested in taking part. They should contact Peter Shipway at peter@barlowdistributors .com.au or David Salter at davidelva@alpha.net.au BURIED in the past week’s news was a sad reference to a 120-year-old boat that was once part of the maritime scene in Tasmania.
The former trading ketch and Bicentennial Fleet Tall Ship Defender, now a wreck in northern Queensland, is to be broken up and its remains “disposed of”, as reports said.
Although not built in Tasmania, Defender was part of the trading fleet in Bass Strait and in 1923 set a record for the fastest Strait crossing.
The public would best remember the boat from the 1980s when it was restored by Launceston businessman Les Dick for participation in the maritime events surrounding the Australian 1988 Bicentennial celebrations, including the Tall Ships visit to Hobart and subsequent race from Hobart to Sydney.
But its immediate past has been a slow deterioration on a mooring in a creek near Townsville, and its raising and beaching at a reported cost of $600,000, followed by ongoing legal proceedings by Queensland authorities to recover the costs of the salvage.
An independent assessment has shown the hull to be in too poor a condition for it to be lifted in one piece and it would have to be broken up. ANOTHER sinking and salvage story, this time in far northern Australia, and of close interest to Tasmania, is heading, albeit slowly, to a much happier ending.
The former navy vessel launched as HDML 1321 in 1943 at the Battery Point shipyards of Purdon and Featherstone is the last of Australia’s coastwatch class vessels, and last year came close to annihilation when it sank in Darwin Harbour.
Its subsequent raising and beaching by Darwin Port Authorities, publicity about its fascinating history and finally the launching of an appeal to support an ongoing preservation and restoration project was featured on this page earlier this year.
HDML 1321 (later renamed MV Rushcutter in its days as a tourist and charter vessel) was built of Huon pine and its stillin-good-condition hull bears testament to the famous Tasmanian timber.
In the months since it was safely beached, a support group called Save Motor Launch 1321 Inc has been set up and registered as a not-forprofit organisation.
Among leading lights is Bro Palmer, the son of the former wartime skipper of the boat, Ernie Palmer.
US Marines, stationed in Darwin, have helped with the removal of ballast and engines in readiness for a move to a dry dock facility made available by NT company the Paspaley Group.
The move, involving a very big crane and low loaders, is estimated to cost $50,000, and a gofundme account to cover this has been established.
Once in dry dock, the aim is to “restore the vessel to wartime configuration for display in a war or maritime museum one of only five World War II vessels on display in Australia”.
The total cost of restoration largely by volunteers is expected to be met through online appeals and applications for grants.
More information on being part of a Tasmanian-interest maritime project is available from www.gofundme.com/ save-1321-2v9uwys? ssid=862227588&pos=2 FINALLY, a reminder of what promises to be an interesting lunchtime talk next week organised by the Maritime Museum of Tasmania.
The basis of the talk will be the large amount of fiction set in the Antarctic region over the past 200 years.
The presentation will be given by Associate Professor Elizabeth Leane from the School of Humanities and Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania.
The talk will focus on 20 novels published in English over the past 250 years, chosen for their influence, their historical significance or simply their quirkiness.
It will be held from noon to 1pm on Tuesday (June 6) at the Royal Society Room of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Davey St entrance.
For more information phone 6234 1427 or email john.wadsley@maritimetas.org