Contingent of historic Derwent-class yachts to race in the Australian Wooden Boat Festival

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Four restored Tasmanian-designed yachts have been re-launched today ahead of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival. The Derwent Class yachts, made from Tasmanian timber, date back as early as the 1920s.   This year will see the largest fleet of the yachts in more than 50 years race at the festival, attracting a growing following of passionate young sailors.

Transcript

00:00After seven months of work, Mermaid is ready to get back in the water.

00:12The 81-year-old yacht looked very different when it arrived in Matt Stephens' shipwrights

00:18after being retrieved from Sydney with damage.

00:20So she was floating, but yeah, just, and yeah, the further we dug the more we found and it

00:29kept going.

00:30It's a Derwent-class, a design unique to Tasmania.

00:35Mermaid and three other Derwent-class yachts were relaunched today after being saved from

00:41the wooden boat graveyard.

00:43Gremlin has been out of the water for ten years.

00:47It's been about six months part-time work and then the last five months have been full

00:53time to get it to this stage.

00:55Gus McKay grew up with a Derwent-class in his family and is now the owner of Goblin.

01:01He says there's been growing interest in the Derwents over the last few years.

01:06We decided we'd put together an association and try and lift the class and get more boats

01:12either rescued or restored and get as many on the water as we could.

01:19Twenty-six Derwent yachts were built between the 1920s and the 1950s.

01:25Not all are accounted for.

01:27Yeah, there's still some out there, some that we've sort of gone off the map.

01:31The yacht's resurgence has boosted the local boat building industry with enthusiasts and

01:37donors funding restorations.

01:39It's given us the opportunity to put on an apprentice, which is what we started the business

01:45for.

01:46We want to keep these skills going and get the younger generation excited.

01:50On Sunday, 13 of the Derwent-class yachts will race as part of the Australian Wooden

01:55Boat Festival.

01:56It'll be the biggest fleet in more than 50 years.

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