My interest in the festival was piqued in 2019 when I travelled to Hobart to help my friend Peter Mortimer sail his 45-foot timber ketch Tamariki from Hobart to Picton. I arrived in Hobart shortly after the festival had finished but got to see
a few of the remaining boats around the docks. I also got to see some of the local boats in places like Kettering and Cygnet while we toured around waiting for the weather to play ball for our trans-Tasman crossing.
With my appetite whetted, I booked my tickets for the 2025 festival, and boy what a show! It was a bonus having a New Zealand and Pacific theme, with a number of New Zealand boats on display. The Tino Rawa Trust, headed by Tony Stevenson, had organised transport so that Ngataki and a number of sailing dinghies could be showcased, including our beloved P Class.
Ngataki was built by Jonny Wray as a 21-year-old, and his adventures cruising the Pacific are told in his book South Sea Vagabonds. Another vagabond of the time was George Dibbern who owned the yacht Te Rapunga, also the subject of a great read in the book Dark Sun.
The paths of these two vagabonds crossed in 1934 when Ngataki and Te Rapunga contested the trans-Tasman race between Auckland and Melbourne in 1934. The race was won by Te Rapunga.
With Ngataki fully restored by the Tino Rawa Trust and Te Rapunga recently restored in Kettering, Tasmania, the scene was set for their first meeting since their 1934 trans-Tasman race.
After 90 years apart, both boats looked splendid rafted up together, their crews eager in anticipation for the race.
A blustery cold northeasterly saw the boats in a close duel, the lead changing several times. With both boats dead even on the run home, a draw was declared – a fitting end to a great re-enactment.
Variety of events
Spread over four days, the festival offers a staggering variety of events with something to grab everyone’s interest. A highlight for my wife and I was the opening day Parade of Sail with magnificent tall ships and all manner of sailing, rowing and power craft plying the River Derwent. It was a magnificent sight.
We were lucky to have tickets for the tall ship James Craig, an 1874 three-masted barque restored from an abandoned hulk. It was fascinating to see the well-oiled crew pull in unison on the many ropes when setting the sails. The bagpipes called out from the crow’s nest as the fleet made its way with a following breeze toward the central docks.
A great sight sailing up beside us was the yacht Te Uira, a sister ship to our own classic yacht Ida, designed and built by New Zealand’s Charles Bailey Jr. She had recently been restored at Cygnet Wooden Boats, just in time for the festival.
On Saturday morning, the famous Salamanca Market takes place, with stalls spread over half a kilometre in Salamanca Place. The crowd, boosted by the arrival of a huge cruise ship, grabbed morning coffee and croissants before wandering back to the festival displays.
So much to see
To ensure I got around the show and saw the things I wanted, the daily schedule was full. Artisan craftsmen turning wood, displays of small boat building using cloth and glue, children in rowing events, trade shows in wharf halls – it was all happening. Everything was centred around the existing fishing fleet, which was assembled in the central dock.
The seaward-side marina was full of an eclectic mix of craft. Beautiful day-launches over 100 years old transported down from Sydney and Tui from Opua, a 25-foot yacht with veteran liveaboards. Each craft had a story to tell, so you could easily while away the time. And of course, when you got a bit peckish the scallop sticks were a must!
I bumped into a number of fellow Kiwis, some volunteering on the Ngataki stand, as well as guest speakers at the daily symposiums. Larry Paul of the Mangawhai Daring Trust gave a well-received talk on the rescue of the ship Daring from the sands of our west coast, now the subject of a major new documentary funded and produced by ‘The Old Ships Company’ based in Hobart. It’s due for release shortly, so keep an eye out for it.
Our own John Welsford also gave a talk on designing modern cruising dinghies, but alas there wasn’t time for everything.
The size of the festival is staggering – after four days I didn’t get to see everything, but with an estimated 60-thousand people enjoying the festivities this year, they must be doing something right.
Cooperation
From what I saw and experienced, there was a huge level of cooperation between the government, local authorities, the Port Authority and businesses to make this festival a huge success.
The local town hall was filled with small yachts and Australian legend John Bertrand welcomed guests, talking about how small boat sailing had started his love of sailing.
I met the Australian Boating Industry NSW Apprentice of the Year, Michaela Douglas, a Marine Mechanical Apprentice at Douglas Marine in Sydney. Her prize was tickets to the festival, including flights and accommodation.
This level of support was heartening, and with the Auckland Wooden Boat Festival planned for next year, a similar level of cooperation would bring benefits that would make Auckland hum. With our unique classic boat fleet, Auckland could be as big a drawcard as Hobart, with international visitors attracted to our unique vessels.
There is also the add-on benefit of visitors travelling further in the country after the festival – as we did – using the opportunity to drive around Tasmania. We did have to deal with hugely damaging fires on the west coast, causing some towns to evacuate, but fortunately only a precautionary requirement.
If you do travel to Tasmania, be aware its weather is a lot like New Zealand’s – we went from 32 degrees on the coast to snow on Cradle Mountain the next day.
I highly recommend the Australian Wooden Boat Festival if you get the opportunity – great fun, great people and lots to see and learn.
