The relaxed atmosphere around the starting area, admiring white sails and long overhangs, was all I could ask for. It was quite a sight generated by sixty-one yachts gliding between Shark Island and Point Piper. Smiles and waves of acknowledgement add to the good vibes when many like-minded sailors come together to display their love of an era of elegance.

The obvious solution to excess healing, is to move weight, either human or material, to windward and if moving to the edge of a boat isn’t enough then you need to get it further outboard, beyond the gunnel.

This week…Ocean Cruises, Command structures, Caribbean Racing, Burgess in Bass Strait and much more.

Jehol, a 1970s Westerly Centaur – one of the most popular British-made yachts – is a boat that Green is in the process of tackling. “She has changed hands for £1 four times, always to people with a dream and the best intentions,” he says. “But life takes over.”

So Uffa Fox was not a particularly good businessman – undoubtedly had his commercial flair matched his inventive genius he would have ended his days a rich man. As it was, others made far more money out of Uffa's brain than he did himself. But it can be argued that this is characteristic of many highly creative people; things like managing money are simply a distraction from the free-thinking flow that can create great and original design art.

And aboard the boat anchored next to us, the playboy model American girl came up on deck with her walkman hooked to her string undies. I think we call them thongs, now. Things. Thongs.

The most impressive thing about the film is that it is stunningly beautiful. In spite of the fact that Alizé was seriously seasick for about half the passage and this is her first feature-length film, her camera work is exceptional. Somehow she has no trouble getting big waves to look big in pix (a trick I’ve never mastered), and she has a very nuanced eye when it comes to depicting life onboard.

PETREL continues apace, the Japanese like Inverloch, to Museum or not, and a few other bits and pieces from around the world and the web.

Personally when I cast my eye over my 100 year old boat her signs of age endear her to me. My aesthetic is that of the cathedrals gloomy with the smoke of innumerable candles, the scars of the sackings by the Ottomans, the steps worn hollow by a thousand years of kneeling penitents. Further to that my humble vessel belongs to a vernacular tradition based on the Queenscliff fishing boats from the turn of last century. A tradition of hard usage, hard knocks, and short pockets.

It’s a fascinating concept… Three moments in time for Kiwi boat design spanning a 90 year period. From a vessel ordered to be both fishing boat and farm truck, to a time when the vision of two young sailors was to create a global legacy shaping a generation of cruiser-racing boats, craftspeople and competitive sailors.

Whales, Wanderers, Gretel, Dragons, Scallops and Gaffers. Now that’s a nice cross section of our world in the news this week!

Yet there comes a time to divest of your interest, not only the boat itself but also of the identity and lifestyle it has shaped in you over the years, and not to forget the divesting of so many emotions that come with any parting or sense of loss. But I’m assured that treasured memories will endure, indelibly. 

The language of work provides a vocabulary which often spills outside the narrow confines of an industry. Nowhere is this more true than in fishing. The coble fishermen of Flamborough on the Yorkshire coast and the deep-sea trawlermen of Hull have provided names for sea and land alike.

“…above all, keep simplicity in mind when looking over a boat. The push-button temptations of our age are fine, but strength and craftsmanship are a far better investment for most sailors…”
— Rod Stephens

The Calendar, The Centenarian, More MJOJO, mining (or not), Hoddle’s Grid and much more

This is how I like to think of wooden boats. Infinitely repairable, like grandpa’s axe. And even though philosophers have long debated whether an object consisting of multiple parts is still fundamentally the same object if all of its parts have been incrementally replaced over time, very few of us are curmudgeonly enough to question the authenticity of boats like TALLY HO, PEGGY BAWN or VARG

More recently, official guidance has diverged on what to do in the event of an interaction. Portuguese authorities advise skippers to 'play dead' or reverse if conditions permit. Whereas the Spanish authorities advise motoring away as fast as possible towards shallower water.

Near Sinkings, saved habitats, boxes ticked and books worth reading. All in this week’s news page.

A centralised repository of all the Traditional Maritime Events you can think of in this corner of the world!

I have rarely met someone so passionate about his yacht. We sat together in the whisky drinking armchairs in the saloon, as he pointed out the details and features, the fixtures and finishes, even the movement, smell and noise which brings this timber creation to life. It appeals to all the senses.