CHANGE OF PLANS - update 12th Feb 11:05pm - AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM WOODEN BOAT SYMPOSIUM
Poor David Payne is stuck in Sydney and won't make to the Festival at all. That means we gotta do some Symposium shuffling! Mirjam Hilgeman will be kindly presenting her presentation again, to take David's Monday slot at 10am. Thanks Mirjam!!
Sorry folks, but we can't change the weather (or afford a private plane....!)
Held in the Dechaineux Theatre on historic Hunter Street, the Australian Maritime Museum Wooden Boat Symposium presents an impressive line up of professionals and enthusiasts sharing their love of wooden boats and expertise on the topic. Topics will range from maritime history, restoration of wooden boats, Australian builders and designers to indigenous watercraft. The theatre style sessions will run over two days during the festival and entry is free *spaces are limited*.
CLICK HERE FOR SCHEDULE
| Speaker | Presentation | Day | Start | Finish |
| Honourable Barbara Baker AC | Official Opening by Governor of Tasmania | Saturday | 1000 | 1030 |
| David Payne | Indigenous watercraft of Australia | Saturday | Cancelled | Cancelled |
| Nicole Mays and Colin Grazules | The 21' Restricted Class of yacht | Saturday | 1200 | 1300 |
| Bill Wright | The boats of Norman Wright & Sons | Saturday | 1300 | 1400 |
| Mike Smith | Pearling luggers, mission boats and outrigger canoes | Saturday | 1400 | 1500 |
| Tony Mackay | The Halvorsen story | Saturday | 1500 | 1600 |
| Ian Smith | Building a replica Ranger class yacht | Saturday | 1600 | 1700 |
| Tim Phillips, Peter Harris, Sarah Parry, Ian Johnston | Forum: The Future of Boatbuilding Wood | Sunday | 1000 | 1200 |
| Kieran Hosty | The Barangaroo boat | Sunday | 1200 | 1300 |
| Len Randell | Rugged and other WA designs | Sunday | 1300 | 1400 |
| Jeremy Clowes and Colin Grazules | The restoration of 1896 Kauri racing yacht Te Uira | Sunday | 1400 | 1500 |
| Matt Morris and Iefke van Gogh | Building Tarkine | Sunday | 1500 | 1600 |
| Peter Harris | Preserving, restoring and rebuilding Alma Doepel | Sunday | 1600 | 1700 |
| Richard Smith | Bringing the City of Adelaide back to SA | Sunday | 1700 | 1800 |
| Mirjam Hilgeman | Duyfken - a 16th century challenge | Monday | 1000 | 1100 |
| Kim Marsh | The Australian wooden surfboat | Monday | 1100 | 1200 |
| Douglas Brooks | An apprentice boatbuilder in Japan | Monday | 1200 | 1300 |
Forum: The Future of Boatbuilding Wood
Summary
Presentation
The Wood Supply Forum, chaired by AWBF Board member Scott Rankin, will explore achievable, pragmatic options to ensure a small sustainable supply of boatbuilding timber into the future. Without high quality boat building timber supplies, the future of the AWBF is in jeopardy. The forum will examine the beauty of Tasmania’s world class timber, projected future supplies and what boat builders are doing to obtain supplies.
Speakers
Forum speakers include, Boat builders Tim Phillips and Peter Harris, Captain Sarah Parry AM, master Windeward Bound, Ian Johnston, advocate for Special Species Timbers resource security.
DAVID PAYNE
The First Wooden Boats - Indigenous Watercraft in Australia
Summary
Presentation
The amazing diversity of watercraft used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities around Australia is not widely understood. They are amongst the earliest form of watercraft, yet they are still being made in the 21st century. Simple, elegant and surprisingly sophisticated, the various saltwater and freshwater community craft were used along much of the coastline and inland on the Murray Darling River system. Each type was tailored to its area and shows a well-developed understanding of the environment and the engineering required to make a successful vessel.
The presentation will begin with an outline of the diversity of the watercraft, including discussion on their different construction methods, and then move onto an outline of the various connections the Australian National Maritime Museum and David have made with communities in relation to watercraft, including commissioning examples for the ANMM collection, holding workshops building full size or model nawi canoes, and two Indigenous watercraft conferences in 2012 and 2017.
Speaker
David Payne is an Honorary Research Associate with the Australian National Maritime Museum. Before retiring in 2020 he was the Curator of Historic Vessels. One of his focus areas within this role was Australian Indigenous watercraft, and he is continuing this work. Taking advantage of his vessel design background David has studied the unique design and construction of these craft, shedding new light on these wonderful artefacts. He has also built a number of these craft. For many years now he has worked beside Elders Uncle Dean Kelly (Yuin) and Uncle John Kelly (Dunghutti) passing on the knowledge of how to build a nawi bark canoe to community at weekend and day camps and to non-indigenous participants at workshops and events.
The presentation will begin with an outline of the diversity of the watercraft, including discussion on their different construction methods, and then move onto an outline of the various connections the Australian National Maritime Museum and David have made with communities in relation to watercraft, including commissioning examples for the ANMM collection, holding workshops building full size or model nawi canoes, and two Indigenous watercraft conferences in 2012 and 2017.
NICOLE MAYS & COLIN GRAZULES
Little Boats with Sails - The History of the 21ft Restricted Class Yacht
Summary
Presentation
The 21ft Restricted class is a significant part of Australian sailing history, particularly between the Great War and World War II. More than 70 yachts were built to the class between 1909 and 2009. Many of these vessels competed in the interstate championship for the class - the Forster Cup - a hotly contested and high-profile series of races held annually between 1922 and 1955 that saw skippers and crew propelled to celebrity status. Notably, it was also the first national sailing championship to feature competitors from all six states. Of the fleet, twenty-one survive, including Idler, the prototype vessel built in Melbourne in 1909, as well as Tassie Too, Eighteen-Twenty, Gymea and Jessamine; all showcased at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival. Significantly, another eleven 21-footers are located at Goolwa in South Australia. This presentation summarises and showcases the class, its history and its current status, with the goal of fostering further interest and development in the 21s.
Speaker - Nicole Mays
Born and raised in Hobart, after completing a Bachelor of Science at the University of Tasmania Nicole moved to Washington D.C., USA, where she worked for a scientific research and policy organisation on Capitol Hill for over a decade. In 2012 Nicole returned to Australia, establishing a home in Adelaide, South Australia, with her husband and two sons. With an interest in family history established in her teens, Nicole’s first book, published in 2011, was on her great-great-great grandfather Jacob Bayly Chandler who was a boat builder of Battery Point between 1847 and 1901. This book has been followed by six more titles, including Industrious, Innovative, Altruistic: The 20th Century Boat Builders of Battery Point; Little Boats with Sails: The History of Australia's 21 Foot Restricted Class; and Those That Survive: Tasmania's Vintage and Veteran Vessels. Nicole is also a part of Navarine Publishing and has published numerous articles in the Maritime Museum of Tasmania’s quarterly newsletter. In addition, Nicole serves as a committee member of the ‘Friends of Tassie Too’ not-for-profit organisation and is the founder and administrator of the ‘Battery Point Boat and Ships’ Facebook group.
Speaker - Colin Grazules
Colin Grazules is certifiable wooden boat tragic, amateur marine historian and keen yachtsman who began sailing at an early age. In 1989 he purchased the now 86-year-old wooden yacht Hinemoa. To rediscover the vessel's story, Colin began what would ultimately become 15 years' worth of research, uncovering not only the history of Hinemoa but also that of its builder, Chips Gronfors. This led Colin on another trajectory, as Gronfors was responsible for the building of Tasmania's first Restricted 21-footer, Tassie, at Battery Point, Hobart, in 1924/25. Colin soon became one of the country's leading researchers of the class. With the Restricted 21's all but forgotten with the passage of time, Colin has amassed a vast collection of information and photos of the history of these distinctly Australian yachts. With knowledge that the second Tasmanian Restricted 21, Tassie Too, built at Battery Point in 1927, was up for sale in 2017, Colin helped establish an enthusiastic group of Tasmanians to procure the vessel and return it to the state. In 2021 Colin, Nicole Mays and David Payne collaborated to write and publish Little Boats with Sails: The History of Australia's 21 Foot Restricted Class. Colin and his beloved Hinemoa have been based in Cygnet, Tasmania, since 2007.
BILL WRIGHT
The Boats of Norman R. Wright & Sons
Summary
Presentation
The Wright tradition started in 1909 when Norman Wright opened his own business in 67 Newstead Terrace, Newstead. His first commission was Superb, a shallow draught gaff-rigged centre board yacht, built for James Hogan Smith. The yard’s prestige grew rapidly, in part thanks to the exquisite vessels sent down its slipways (including such boats as Olivene, Pathfinder, Stradbroke II and Juanita) but also due to Norman Wright’s personal reputation, built when he worked as a tradesman at the renowned Whereat’s yard.
Following the outbreak of war in 1939, the building of recreational craft was suspended in the wake of a wholesale diversion of resources towards the military effort. Post-war, the company has produced a huge range of yachts, luxury launches, work boats, pilot boats, restricted 21 class yachts and skiffs.
This presentation will feature pictures and descriptions of some of the more notable vessels to be built by Norman R. Wright & Sons.
Speaker
Bill started as an apprentice boat builder in 1971, working in the shed and loft until the mid-80s moving into the design role when his father, Ron Wright, retired. He and his brother took over the management of the boatyard in 1987, relinquishing it to a younger team in 2018. He still does some design work and is a qualified AMSA Surveyor, a member of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects and of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. His interests are sailing his old Dragon class yacht and long-range cruising in his motor boat.
MIKE SMITH
The Saltwater Club - Pearl Luggers, Mission Boats, Outrigger Canoes and Tasmania's Derwent Hunter
Summary
Presentation
Pearling began on Warrior Island in 1868 with a Blackbirding Captain, a crew of South Sea Islander recruits and a stand-off with the head-hunting canoe chief, King Kebisu. Captain Banner and King Kebisu later became good mates, but their relationship started the historical shift in Colonial expansion with the commercial pearling in the Torres Strait region. The next few decades saw a unique time in history when pearl luggers, mission boats, tall ships and outrigger canoes were in the same place at the same time.
Mike will provide a history of the work undertaken by the Saltwater Club with the Pearl Lugger Heritage Fleet and Wayfinder Outrigger Canoes, and the operation of Tasmanian topsail schooner Derwent Hunter as the ongoing mothership of the fleet as part of Tall Ship Adventures. Rather than provide details of wooden boat construction or restoration, Mike will be telling the story of why these historic vessels existed, why the stories are just as important as the vessels themselves and what is being done to ensure their preservation. Tales of head hunters, shipwrecks, pearl fortunes, cyclone disasters, black birding and missionaries… not to mention a few pirates!
Speaker
Mike and his wife Sonia are the founders of Blackbird International, The Saltwater Club and the Pearl Lugger Heritage Fleet. Mike, Sonia and their son Master William also now own the topsail schooner Derwent Hunter and the Tallship Adventures brand operating out of Airlie Beach.
IAN SMITH
Building a Carvel-Planked Ranger in the 21st Century
Summary
Presentation
The Ranger class is a group of 24’ (7.6m) gaff-rigged yachts on Sydney Harbour, with the original Ranger built in 1933. Retired boatbuilder and sailor Ian Smith selected the Ranger as his retirement project and decided to build it traditionally, with Huon Pine carvel planking over Spotted Gum ribs and keel. Ian will explain why he chose gaff rig, and why he decided to build it traditionally in the 21st Century, and why he selected particular timbers and methods to construct the boat. In a highly-illustrated talk, Ian will go into the origin and history of the class and its place in Sydney’s and Australia’s maritime heritage. Ian is documenting the build through his YouTube channel Smithy’s Boatshed.
Speaker
Ian Smith has spent half a century building and repairing wooden boats, building upwards of 80 wooden boats from dinghies to yachts, and taught hundreds of first-timers to build their own boat through the Sydney Wooden Boat School which he founded in 1990. Though retired, he can’t stop building boats and is currently close to launching his 24’ Ranger-class yacht. With a long-standing interest in maritime heritage he joined the emerging Australian Historical Sailing Skiff Association and built a 6-footer, then a 10-footer, then the iconic 18-footer Britannia to join the growing fleet of replicas. On display here in City Hall on her 4th visit to the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, Britannia races every Summer Saturday with the replica fleet at the Sydney Flying Squadron. Ian is the author of Wooden Boatbuilding: the Sydney Wooden Boat School Manuals, The Open Boat: The Origin, Evolution and Construction of the Australian 18-Footer, and The 18-Footer Britannia: 100 Years of a Sydney Icon, and produces boatbuilding and sailing videos for his YouTube channel Smithy's Boatshed.
TONY MACKAY
Boatbuilding on 5 Continents - The Story of the Halvorsen Family
Summary
Presentation
From humble beginnings on the south coast of Norway, farmer Halvor Andersen learned to build boats to help pay for his growing family. His son Lars Halvorsen made it his career, working in the United States, his homeland of Norway and eventually taking his skills and family to South Africa and then on to Australia. His five sons and family created what became the largest and most famous Australian boatbuilders of their era, later taking their skills to Hong Kong and China, with exports all over the world.
The story is one of hardship and passion, stoicism in the face of great adversity, and the culmination of wonderful vessels born from a highly skilled designer’s eye and the determination to maintain the highest quality standards.
Speaker
Tony MacKay has been on board Halvorsen boats all his life, having owned nine substantial cruisers, all of which were significantly and lovingly restored. Through his involvement with the Halvorsen Club, he has passed some of this passion and energy to like-minded owners of these beautiful craft, also assisting with the improvement of skills and historical information. He has also represented the family for significant events at the Australian National Maritime Museum, exhibitions, on water parades, birthdays and even eulogies. It has been a lasting passion.
KIERAN HOSTY
The Barangaroo Boat: Archaeology and Conservation of an early colonial vessel
Summary
Presentation
In September 2018, archaeologists from the Australian National Maritime Museum and the Silentworld Foundation were invited to participate in the excavation and recovery of an early 19th century timber boat from the former shoreline of Cockle Bay at Barangaroo, Sydney. The 10m long vessel, believed to be the earliest extant example of Australian colonial shipbuilding, is currently being conserved in Sydney in a project financed by Sydney Metro and the NSW Government.
Speaker
Kieran Hosty is the Manager of the Maritime Archaeology Program at the Australian National Maritime Museum and has been actively involved in the excavation and conservation of the Barangaroo Boat since its discovery in 2018.
LEN RANDELL
Memories of life with wooden boats
Summary
Presentation
Western Australian legend Len Randell will talk about some of the vast range of boats he has designed over many decades. Perhaps his most famous design, Rugged has become a legend in WA as the winner of the inaugural Cape Naturaliste Race in 1955 with Len as skipper.
Len Randell designed boats are extremely popular with boat owners in West Australia and can be found in waters around the globe. By the end of the 1990’s, hundreds and hundreds of Len’s distinctly designed boats were built as either leisure craft, training vessels, commercial ferries, cray boats and prawn trawlers. Many strong reliable, seaworthy former crayfishing and ferry boats have been converted and repurposed as leisure craft and Rottnest cruisers.
Speaker
From an early age, Len spent much of his spare time around the Swan River and associated waterways, building canoes and improvising with home-made sails. As a teenager in the 1930s he visited Perth boatyards on the banks of the Swan River, and seeing these boats being built inspired him to design one himself at the tender age of 15. The resulting 16-foot hard chine boat was a success and encouraged him to continue designing craft and become involved with yachting in general.
Although he designed racing and cruising yachts, it was fishing boats that launched his commercial career. The introduction of high-powered diesel engines was a significant change and needed someone able to calculate the power and propeller requirements, along with the best hull shape and construction, if the craft was to achieve its desired performance. Len had the technical expertise to capitalize on this need and soon started working with builders to produce efficient and elegant designs, now known the world over.
JEREMY CLOWES & COLIN GRAZULES
An amazing survivor - the history and restoration of the 1896 Kauri racing yacht Te Uira
Summary
Presentation
Constructed of three diagonal layers of the finest New Zealand Kauri, the 5 Rater racing yacht, Te Uira was built in 1896 by Bailey Bros. of Auckland to a design by Charles Bailey. Built to the order of Gideon Palmer of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria in Melbourne, the craft was notably the first racing yacht exported to Australia after the disastrous depression of the 1890s. Te Uira's successful racing career on Port Phillip Bay did not go unnoticed by Sydney yachtsmen, spurring the beginning of an era dominated by racing yachts built by Charles Bailey and the Auckland-based Logan Brothers on Sydney Harbour. With a remarkable subsequent history, Te Uira has survived for more than 120 years and after being rediscovered in a dilapidated state in Sydney has now undergone a complete restoration. This presentation by master shipwright Jeremy Clowes and historian Colin Grazules covers Te Uira's 126-year history and recent restoration by Cygnet Wooden Boats of Cygnet, Tasmania.
Speaker - Jeremy Clowes
Jeremy Clowes is the owner of Cygnet Wooden Boats based at Cygnet, Tasmania, where he runs a specialised team of shipwrights who restore and build traditional wooden boats. Jeremy first entered the maritime industry as a deckhand/labourer on the wooden charter boats Lorraine and Enid, working with shipwright Dane Buford. After spending time at the Wooden Boat School at Franklin, he then undertook an apprenticeship with Tim Phillips at the Wooden Boat Shop at Sorrento, Victoria. Four years later Jeremy founded Peninsular Wooden Boats, based at Rosebud in Victoria which he operated for seven years.
Moving to Cygnet in 2011, Jeremy purchased an old sawmill where he established Cygnet Wooden Boats. Specialising mainly in restorations with the occasional new builds and seasonal maintenance, Jeremy has created a space that has become a focus for many of the skilled traditional boatbuilders living in the area. The yard and facilities have grown since 2011 with two apprentices currently completing their training. Jeremy is also passionate about community projects, teaching local kids to sail as Junior Sailing Captain at the Port Cygnet Sailing Club. He also facilitates and mentors, including the building of two community St Ayles skiffs and the ongoing restoration of Rebecca, a 100-year-old Tamar River Huon pine cod boat with a group of local young people. In his spare time Jeremy enjoys cruising the remarkable coastlines of Tasmania and the Bass Strait Islands with his family.
Speaker - Colin Grazules
Colin Grazules is certifiable wooden boat tragic, amateur marine historian and keen yachtsman who began sailing at an early age. In 1989 he purchased the now 86-year-old wooden yacht Hinemoa. To rediscover the vessel's story, Colin began what would ultimately become 15 years' worth of research, uncovering not only the history of Hinemoa but also that of its builder, Chips Gronfors. This led Colin on another trajectory, as Gronfors was responsible for the building of Tasmania's first Restricted 21-footer, Tassie, at Battery Point, Hobart, in 1924/25. Colin soon became one of the country's leading researchers of the class. With the Restricted 21's all but forgotten with the passage of time, Colin has amassed a vast collection of information and photos of the history of these distinctly Australian yachts. With knowledge that the second Tasmanian Restricted 21, Tassie Too, built at Battery Point in 1927, was up for sale in 2017, Colin helped establish an enthusiastic group of Tasmanians to procure the vessel and return it to the state. In 2021 Colin, Nicole Mays and David Payne collaborated to write and publish Little Boats with Sails: The History of Australia's 21 Foot Restricted Class. Colin and his beloved Hinemoa have been based in Cygnet, Tasmania, since 2007.
MATT MORRIS & IEFKE VAN GOGH
A Boat By The River - building our wooden boat Tarkine
Summary
Presentation
In Southern Tasmania, Matt Morris and Iefke van Gogh are building their wooden boat Tarkine. In this presentation they will tell you their story - how the dream started, the hurdles along the way and where they are up to now. They will show you the process of the build and tell you about their plans for the future. Tarkine is a strip planked Pilot Cutter design build entirely out of Tasmanian Timbers. They are about halfway through the build and would like to take you along on their journey from the first lofting lines to the solid 42 foot, 16 ton hull they have now. A story of perseverance, dreams, passion - and lots of sawdust!
Speaker - Matt Morris
Matt grew up in Cygnet, Tasmania and spent most of his waking hours on the water and messing around with boats. As soon as school was finished he decided to make his career at sea. He started sailing on Australian Tall Ships before embarking on European Tall ships that sail the world's oceans. He sailed extensively around the world visiting Antarctica, South America, South Africa and many parts of Europe. With passion and skill he climbed the ladder and ended up as Bosun on Tall Ship Bark Europa. Here he met Iefke and in between sailing voyages he studied at a Maritime college in the Netherlands. Now back in the Tassie bush he works as an apprentice boatbuilder and works tirelessly on his own build Tarkine.
Speaker - Iefke Van Gogh
Iefke grew up in the Netherlands, completed social studies and worked in that field before embarking on a single voyage as a deckhand on a Tall Ship. This voyage took her from the Caribbean back to the Netherlands. When her phone reached reception on the islands of Azores she called her boss and quit her job, sold everything and accepted a full time job as deckhand on Tall Ship Wylde Swan. She sailed continuously on multiple ships around the world before landing a job on Bark Europa where her path crossed Matt's. She studied at a Maritime College and sailed to many remote areas around the globe. When her dream collided with Matt's, she packed up her stuff again and moved to the other side of the world to start the build of their dream boat. Now she works at a boat yard in Cygnet when she's not working on her own vessel Tarkine. Her plan is to finish the boat and sail it back to Europe to show their hard work off to her family and friends back home.
PETER HARRIS
Preserving, restoring and rebuilding Alma Doepel
Summary
Presentation
This talk will explore some of the issues and decisions that keep the Restoration Director awake at night. Even thinking out-loud about the options can lead to heated discussions such as the purpose of the restored vessel, the materials and processes to be used, the value of authenticity, the operating and legislative environments and the eternal question “where does the money come from?”
Good advice for those wanting to build or rebuild a traditional vessel is to “Go home and have a good lie-down and hope the feeling passes. Then come back in a year’s time with a business plan and we can talk again”. Over the past 12 years, no-one has come back!
This talk will explore some of the issues and decisions that keep the Restoration Director awake at night. Even thinking out-loud about the options can lead to heated discussions such as the purpose of the restored vessel, the materials and processes to be used, the value of authenticity, the operating and legislative environments and the eternal question “where does the money come from?”
Good advice for those wanting to build or rebuild a traditional vessel is to “Go home and have a good lie-down and hope the feeling passes. Then come back in a year’s time with a business plan and we can talk again”. Over the past 12 years, no-one has come back!
Assuming the advice was not taken seriously – we can explore how to build a passionate, competent and stable governance structure, identify costs, potential markets and income streams, stabilise the physical and financial security of the ship, find a suitable berth and workshop, map and prioritise the requirements for survey and operation, propose a plan for recruiting and retaining staff, contractors, volunteers, sponsors and donors, and prepare for the long-haul!
Speaker
Peter was introduced to traditional sailing vessels in Southampton in 1967 by his landlord “Shorty”, crew on the four-masted barque Herzogin Cecilie in the 1930s and then rigger at Camper and Nicholson’s. Sunday lunch began with a new knot to be tied to Shorty’s satisfaction!
While studying physiology at Southampton University, Peter became immersed in the maritime culture of the Solent, from four-oared gig racing to coastal and Channel cruising and deliveries. A move to Sydney in 1975 opened the door to yacht racing as navigator, including Sydney-Hobarts, Sardinia Cup and Admirals Cup in 1979. Peter’s scientific career took him to Edinburgh, Washington and Melbourne, where in 1984 he was drawn to Alma Doepel, being converted for sail training. Alma took part in the Bicentennial Parade in Sydney and then worked for 11 years in Port Phillip before hull deterioration led to withdrawal of survey and relocation to Port Macquarie.
Peter re-engaged with Alma in 2008 and brought together a new team of Directors, volunteers and shipwrights to bring the ship back to Melbourne and begin restoration for the next generations of crew, trainees and ship enthusiasts. In 2021, Peter was awarded an OAM for contributions to maritime heritage.
RICHARD SMITH
Bringing the world's oldest surviving composite clipper ship back to Adelaide
Summary
Presentation
The presentation on behalf of ‘Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Ltd’ (CSCOAL) will cover:
Where and why the Clipper Ship City of Adelaide was built in 1864.
The design significance of the ship categorised as "Experimental" by Lloyds of London.
CSCOAL identifying and planning for a practical way of removing the Carrick, as it was known then, from the Irvine slipway.
Securing Industry support to design, manage & build a 100 tonne steel cradle in SA for safe transportation.
Loadout onto the transportation barge and departure from Irvine.
Renaming by the late Duke of Edinburgh from Carrick in Greenwich back to City of Adelaide.
The return and offloading in Port Adelaide.
Speaker
Richard was born into a construction and sailing family in Adelaide and developed these interests growing up. He specialised in Construction Consulting and Project Management for major projects, many for SA Govt and Defence.
Following some dinghy sailing and later on his father’s yacht, Richard fitted out an S&S 36 for racing and cruising. He still successfully races in Twilights at the RSAYS. He has done a lot of offshore racing in SA plus Sydney to Hobart, Melbourne to Hobart and Melbourne to Port Lincoln.
Richard is married with two children and four grandchildren all living in Adelaide. His transition to retirement took about eight years. He is now actively involved as a Board Member of Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Ltd (CSCOAL) and the Board of the Royal SA Yacht Squadron.
He was awarded an OAM in 2019 for service to the building and construction industry, and to heritage preservation.
MIRJAM HILGEMAN
Duyfken: A 16th Century Challenge
Summary
Presentation
Duyfken, also known as Little Dove, was modelled after a Dutch vessel that sailed around the world between 1595 and 1608. In 1606, Captain Willem Janszoon charted 300km of the west coast of Cape York Peninsula. Janzoon was the first known European to chart any part of the Australian continent.
The original ship was built in 1595 in approximately three months, the Duyfken replica, however, took two years to construct. This presentation will shed some light on the processes and techniques that were used to build it. What is unique about this build is that it is constructed in the ‘plank first’ method. I will also talk about the greatest asset of the replica – the team that built Duyfken.
The success of the build is demonstrated in Duyfken’s sailing ability. When you have been out at sea, you will know that sailing Duyfken is a true 16th century experience. With little creature comforts, it can be a challenge for some.
Speaker
Mirjam Hilgeman. grew up with sailing and spent every spare moment sailing the canals and lakes in Friesland, The Netherlands. As a child she saw the Replica Batavia being built as her father was a supporter of that project. He wanted to be Master of the Batavia, but sadly it does not sail.
In 2009 Mirjam joined the Duyfken Replica Foundation as a maintenance volunteer whilst Duyfken was berthed in Brisbane. She was given the chance to fulfil her father’s dream and sail on a 16th century sailing vessel. Instead of helping for two weeks as planned, she is now getting close to 14 years of service on Duyfken, having sailed more than 10.000 nautical miles on her!
KIM MARSH
Evolution and Traditions of the Iconic Australian Wooden Surfboat
Summary
Presentation
The talk will explore the history and development of the iconic wooden Australian surfboat. It will discuss the evolutionary influences such as the need to rescue surf bathers; the surf environment; surf craft design; and boat building. The heritage of surfboats will be highlighted within a context of surf rescue and surf lifesaving competition traditions as well as our restoration projects.
Speaker
Kim Marsh is passionate about the heritage and culture of the Australian wooden surfboat. He commenced rowing in 1967 and went on to become one of the sport’s most successful surfboat rowers, as well as a coach, mentor and organizer of surf skill courses in Australia and New Zealand. In the 1970s his crew twice visited Cornwall, Devon and Wales with a surfboat to compete and demonstrate surf lifesaving.
In 2007 he wrote The Surfboat Book – the Complete Coaching Manual to particularly provide knowledge to regional areas where access to experience may be limited. Kim has represented Australia and NSW in surf life-saving teams. He is a Life Member of Freshwater SLSC and has been inducted into the Australian Surf Rowers Hall of Fame.
Kim’s love of the sport extends to the craft. He observed many wooden surfboats being built by expert boat builders, developing an appreciation for their design and construction. He listened to the stories about early surfboats told by old legendary boaties and boat builders whose experiences stretched back to the 1940s.
Kim and his wife Leanne have helped maintain surfboat culture by conserving a 1947 double ended carvel surfboat and a 1971 cold moulded cedar, square tuck surfboat.
DOUGLAS BROOKS
Ways of learning - an apprentice boatbuilder in Japan
Summary
Presentation
When people think about Japan, they usually have in their mind images of manga and anime, busy urban centres, and an economy based on innovations in electronics. Most people do not know that there is also a second Japan, wherein lies a rich history of traditional arts and crafts, many of which are fast disappearing. Douglas Brooks has apprenticed with nine boatbuilders from throughout Japan since 1996, building over a dozen types of traditional boats. In this slide talk he will share his experiences with traditional crafts drawn from twenty-six trips to Japan since 1990, visiting all forty-seven prefectures. Brooks’ research in Japan focuses on the techniques and design secrets of the craft. These techniques have been passed from master to apprentice with almost no written record. His book, Japanese Wooden Boatbuilding (Floating World Editions, 2015) is the first comprehensive survey of the craft, spanning his first five apprenticeships and including a chapter on Japan’s last traditional shipwright.
Douglas will also talk about the nature of craft education in Japan; an ethic that is largely at odds with our notions of teaching in the West. The apprentice system produced craftspeople with incomparable skills, yet it required an intense devotion and seriousness from participants. He has experienced first-hand what it is like to learn when the apprentice is forbidden from speaking. At the core of this process is the belief that one learns by observation and perseverance. Japan’s last generation of traditional boatbuilders has almost disappeared. Brooks’ teachers were all in their seventies and eighties when he worked with them, and he is the sole apprentice for seven of his nine teachers.
Speaker
Douglas Brooks is a boatbuilder, writer and researcher who specializes in the construction of traditional wooden boats for museums and private clients. He worked in the Small Boat Shop at the National Maritime Museum in San Francisco from 1985-1990 and has since built boats at museums in Japan and across the United States.
He teaches classes in boat building and has written regularly for magazines like WoodenBoat (USA), Classic Boat (UK), and KAZI (Japan). Brooks attended the Williams Mystic Seaport Program in American Maritime History, and he is a 1982 graduate of Trinity College (B.A. Philosophy) and a 2002 graduate of the Middlebury College Language School (Japanese). He lives with his wife Catherine in Vergennes, Vermont. To see photos of his boats and learn more about his research, please visit: www.douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com.
The Australian National Maritime Museum have been partners for the Wooden Boat Symposium for several festivals, promoting wooden boat culture and conversations. The Australian National Maritime Museum is the national centre for maritime collections, exhibitions, experiences and knowledge, custodians of historic vessels and the cultural hub for stories and heritage. We are proud to partner with Australian National Maritime Museum to bring you the Australian National Maritime Museum Wooden Boat Symposium.
