Australian Historical Sailing Skiff Association Inc

Historic 18 Ft skiff action: Main photo: Top Weight, with special guest for'ardhand, followed by Alruth.

Left Top: Tangalooma

Left Bottom: Alruth

(Photos by Peter Sinclair)

Merry Christmas to al l  members  and their  families,  may  it  be a happy and safe time for al l .

Next Meeting: Thursday, 19th December, 20137.30pm at Drummoyne Sailing Club

December Newsletter 2013

Patron: Phil BoydPresident Ian Smith Vice President John LewisHon. Secretary Position Vacant Commodore Bob SawyerHon. Treasurer Coral Taylor Vice Commodores Michael Chapman

& Col Gillespie

Websites: ahssa.weebly.comnswtens.weebly.com

AHSSAP.O. Box 48Drummoyne, NSW 2047

Editor: Peter BurgessEmail: ahssa@y7mail.com

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Postal Address:

Historic 10Ft Skiffs

First Half-Year PointscoreThe Historic 10ft skiffs had a slow start to the season with the first race atDrummoyne Sailing Club being cancelled due to 30knot westerlies makingconditions decidedly unfriendly for 10 footers.

Due to crew problems on the Balmain Regatta, only 3of the 4 skiffs were able tostart, however, they did add colour to the event along with the two Historic 18s.

Race three was a gusty south-easter which,unfortunately, turned out to be the wrong day for anew hand to try out a ten footer, seeing Irene-M testing the waters of the Parramatta River. After a slight pit-stop at a nearby boat ramp to right the boat, Irene-M took her new hand back to DSC with everyone in one piece. Three other skiffs took to the water that day and while Merle was towed home without a jib halyard, Wrecker (Michael Chapman & crew) put on a display of heavy weather sailing which was exciting to watch. Keriki also put in a great effort to claim a finishand a handicap win.

The fourth race in the calendar was set down for December 8th at Sunshine on beautiful Lake Macquarie. This saw 6 skiffs rig up to meet the starter. Irene-M, Keriki, Merle, Miss Marlene, Ramona and Wrecker. For the first race this season on Lake Macquarie it was good to see 4 local boats on the water.

While the morning started out with a light Nor'easter, as race timeapproached it continued to build. When the boats started theywere in 18-20 knots and looking as if they were in for a busy day.While the gremlins were at work in the previous race, this time itwas Murphy who had a sting in the tail for the crews, as therewere many crew changes for the day. This can be very unsettlingin a 10ft skiff.

Merle's sheethand twisted his ankle on Sunday morning and wassubstituted by a young lad from the Sunshine club, who aged afew years during the race, but performed well, as did Tony andPeter in a big breeze. Keriki shuffled Coral to for'ard hand and took on a new hand from the H18s, while Ramona set sail with 3 very experienced sailors who were having their first outing in a 10 footer.

An exciting race saw 3 skiffs DNF and a big run from Ramona to finish 2minutes 56 seconds behind Wrecker over the line. The only other finisher was Merle who kept the boat on her feet for a well-deserved finish and a third place.

The next 10ft skiff race is set down for Sunday, 15th December atSunshine. If anyone is in the area, feel free to come and have a look at these amazing little skiffs.

For more photos, race sheets, race reports, scorecards and calendars, have a look at:

Historic 10ft Skiffs − http://nswtens.weebly.com

and

Historic 18ft Skiffs − http://ahssa.weebly.com

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Irene-M: about to head home

Wrecker runs down to Tarban Ck

Miss Marlene, going quickly

Wrecker, at pace

Historic 18s @ The Sydney Flying SquadronSpring Pointscore

From October 12 to November 30, the SFS and the H18s held 8 heatsof the Spring Pointscore, in conjunction with 2 heats of the ClubChampionship.

In a range of conditions stretching from a drifter to a gusty southerly, and everything in between, the H18s put on a great display of closeracing on beautiful Sydney Harbour.

As the results below show, racing was tight, with the pointscore goingto Aberdare from Yendys, with The Mistake third and Tangalooma fourth. As can be seen from the score sheet below, there was a good entry of skiffs during the Spring season.

As is sometimes the case on Sydney Harbour, some crews of the Historic 18s volunteered their services as “water testers” for the Sydney Water Board. The water quality must be very good as some crews decided to try itout more than once.

As well as the SFS races, the Balmain Regatta was held in October which saw Britannia and Scot journey up riverfor a sail in the sun. The Regatta Report was in last month's newsletter, but our thanks again to the crews for taking part, as well as the support crew in the Killara II.

In the 2 heats of the Club Championship which have been sailed,Aberdare leads, with 2 wins, from The Mistake, with Yendys inthird place.

The H18s have 3 heats of the summer pointscore in the lead-upto Christmas, with a 4th heat in January before the start of theGalloping Ghost Trophy.

Best of sailing to all competitors.

Britannia heads to Goat Island

Spinnakers down the harbour

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In October, 2002, Ian Smith launched his replica of the mighty 18ft skiff, Britannia. Tocelebrate her birthday, we reproduce below an article and photos on her construction from

Wooden Boat Magazine, May/June 2005. Photos also from Classic Boats, August, 2007

Ian Smith decided to build a replica of Britannia because she was a significant boat in 18-footer history.Wee Georgie Robinson haddesigned and built her, and racedher from 1919 to 1945. For muchof that time she was the scratchboat at the Sydney FlyingSquadron.

Wee Georgie Robinson (4ft 11in .1.5m tall) sailed the original for 25years and won no fewer than 30championships in her.

Three years after Georgie retiredfrom racing, the Squadron waslooking for a race committee boat. Georgie took out the centreboard, added a half cabin and motor, and volunteered to start races temporarily. Twenty-eight years later, both Georgie and Britannia were ready for retirement again …. this time for good.

When Georgie died he willed Britannia to his old forward hand, Bob Lundy, who then donated the boat to the National Maritime Museum in Sydney. Many ofthe fittings, including thwarts, maststep, tabernacle, chainplates, rudder hardware and the turning fairleads at the stern for the spinnaker braces, were still in place. In 1990 Britannia was restored to her original condition and placed on display.

When Ian decided to build his replica in 2001 the museum had in its possession a half model and a set ofplans that had been commissioned by curator Michael Staples, He and the museum staff had reproduced the missing centreboard and other fittings by studying old photographs, and by consulting former crew members.These included Wee Georgie's son, Ron. The museum made all of its carefully collated information availableto Ian. Another happy discovery at the museum was a box of patterns for the bronze fittings,

As luck would have it, when Ian started his research, Britannia had been taken out of display temporarily, and was sitting in storage. He spent days taking photographs and making small measurements. “I got all the details correct. If a knee was 8” long, I made the knee that long.”

Ian measured and replicated exactly Wee Georgie's plank lines. These are unusual in that out of her 13 planks only the lower 6 finish on the stem; the rest land on the sheer. Ian notes that because of the curvature of the hull, they would have needed

stock at least 2'6” wide for some full-length planks to land on the stem, and at that point the grain would havebeen running diagonally across the plank, creating a weak area.

He built the hull using the same materials as the original and the same method as Wee Georgie would have done; this included building the boat the right way up – unusual for a small boat, at least since the Second World War. She was planked with 7/16” Australian cedar; the seams were backed by 1¼” x ⅜” kauri battens riveted in place; 1” x ½” frames of spotted gum were steamed in place and clench-nailed at 7” centres.

There was no sail plan for Britannia. Brisbane sailmaker, Jack Hamilton, whose father used to make sails for 18-footers, had inherited several sketches of sail plans of the period. After poring over these and oldphotographs, Ian designed the sail plan himself. The top 18s used to have four rigs, with different bowsprits and spars for different weather conditions. Ian makes do with three. He intends to get a fourth rig when the budget permits.

Ian is full of praise for the strength of this construction,provided the scantlings are heavy enough. He points out that all of the boat aft of the runner is unsupported. With perhaps half a dozen hefty crew hiking out on the rail in this area to counteract the force of the sails, the twisting forces on the hull must be phenomenal. Yet theoriginal Britannia withstood this treatment for 25 hard years of racing.

You have to ask why some other boats, such as Aberdare, had relatively short lives. Ian suggests that they may have been too lightly built, and perhaps not all owners maintained their boats as meticulously as Wee Georgie.

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