Festival Collaboration - and capitulation?
In a world where every project and event seems to be fighting for eyeballs or bums on seats, it’s so good to see the continued cooperation between the AckWBF and the AWBF which began when the kiwis brought a boat and a container to Hobart last year. As this article from the AWBF newsletter shows, reciprocation is well underway. It’s a relationship that can only add to the combined cultural wealth of the wooden boat communities in this part of the world. It looks like there is going to be a sizeable contingent arriving from the big Island, for the event (13–15 March) including the small but mighty team from SWS who will be presenting at the symposium and covering everything else going on on the Waitemata. It’s not too late to be part of the fun!
From the AWBF Newsletter. Packing Boats for Auckland
We’re officially in the middle of packing a shipping container full of boats. No pressure.
Over the past few days, the AWBF team has been loading a new Tasmanian Boatbuilders and Timbers exhibition into a 20-foot bi-fold container, getting it ready to head across the Tasman to the Auckland Wooden Boat Festival (AklWBF), held 13–15 March 2026. AklWBF brought their exhibition to AWBF 2025 — now it’s our turn.
It’s a lot of measuring and re-measuring, careful lifting, and standing around with hands on hips working out what goes where. Boats, tools and memorabilia all need to travel safely, so nothing goes in without a bit of discussion and a moment of “are we sure?”. The photos show it taking shape.
Pictured above are Cody Horgan from the Wooden Boat Centre with Pacific Gull, members of the Wooden Boat Guild with Gordon, and Bass Gamlin with Pippa, along with others helping get everything into place. We’ve still got a little more to load — including some extra memorabilia — before the doors close.
Big thanks as well to everyone who contributed to the exhibition panels and stories: Sheldon Thomas, Gus McKay and the Derwent Class Association, Nathan O’Neill (Tasmanian Shipwrights & Co.), Jeremy Clowes (Cygnet Wooden Boats), Jonathan Minnebo, Tom Blue, Matt Morris & Iefke van Gogh (Tarkine), and Jordy & Holly Ruth (Shippies Shipwright Services).
If you’re at the Auckland Wooden Boat Festival, come say hi. The festival is free, and if you miss it this time, the exhibition will be back in Tasmania for AWBF 2027 — with plans to send it on to other far-flung ports after that.
Container doors closing soon.
And perhaps a less happy festival story…
Your correspondent and his son sailed a 65 mile round trip in an engineless boat to attend the last festival
Do you remember this email from the Royal Geelong Yacht Club dated 1st July last Year that we published in SWS?
“Thank you for your ongoing support, ideas and advocacy for the Victorian Wooden Boat Festival. Your passion for the event and the wooden boat community continues to be invaluable.We’re writing to inform you that, following careful consideration and consultation with RGYC Management, we’ve made the difficult decision to defer the planned 2026 event to 2028.
This decision has been made due to continued uncertainty around securing the funding required to deliver the event at the standard it deserves. Rather than proceed with an event that compromises on quality or financial sustainability, we believe it’s in the best long-term interest of the Festival to pause and plan for a strong return in 2028.
That said, we’re excited to share an opportunity to keep the wooden boat community connected and celebrated in 2026.
As part of the Festival of Sails 2026 we will be delivering a special Classic and Wooden Boat Feature, and we’d love for our Victorian Wooden Boat Festival community to be at the heart of it.
We would welcome your feedback on the following proposed opportunities:
• Dedicated on-land and on-water display spaces for classic and wooden boats
• The return of the much-loved Portarlington to Geelong Passage Race, exclusively for wooden boats
• A space to showcase the artistry and craftsmanship of wooden boatbuilding and associated trades
• Display of Tall Ships on Wangim Walk
The Festival of Sails will also host popular crowd favourites including the Rough and Ready Boat Building and Racing, as well as a rich program of artisans and skilled trade activations.
We see this as a meaningful way to maintain momentum, celebrate the spirit of the Wooden Boat Festival, and keep our community engaged and visible.”
Well the Festival has now concluded and I have to admit I wasn’t there. But I’ve scanned all the publicity and race results and I see no reference to an on-land and on-water display spaces for classic and wooden boats, an exclusive race for wooden boats or a space to showcase the artistry and craftsmanship of wooden boatbuilding and associated trades. Happy to be corrected if I’ve missed something.
I think there may have been a classic racing division with four entries but they obviously weren’t important enough to make it onto the official results web page.
Having taken the bold step of renaming the “Geelong Wooden Boat Festival” to the “Victorian Wooden Boat Festival” and then failing to deliver an event, or even support it at the FOS, it’s perhaps time for the RGYC to make a serious commitment to Wooden Boat Custodianship or get off the pot.