Chapter Two
Early Yachts and Racing 1789-1887
The introduction of yachting into A ustralia . Early yachts , the first regattas , the Royal Sydney Anniversary Regatta , early yacht design .
By the early part of the nineteenth century the rich agriculmral lands of the Hawkesbury , Nepean and Derwent valleys bad been cultivated and ships were needed to bring grJin from I . he Hawkesbury and Rose Hill . The first to be constructed , in 1789 , was the government-built Rose Hill Packer . In those early days ships were brought out in ( rame from England and India and were completed in Sydney Cove . The first sea-going vessel and the second vessel to be built in the colony was the 40-tonner Francis . Tue club has some association with this name having named its large tender Fra11cis after her . The original
Francis was brought out in frame in the hold of an & sl IncJiaruetn ~ Pi11 , in l792 . Ouv1 ; n1ur Pltillip wa :. i pleased with the ship but disappointed the Naval Board had not sent out shipwrights to build her . He was also worried about the lack of copper to sheath ber bottom . He said , ' She will be destroyed by wormes ( sic ) in less than two years .· However , on 24 July 1793 she was launched at Sydney Cove and on 8 September she sailed for New Zealand .
TI1e name ' Francis ' is said to have been chosen as she was launched on the birthday of Francis , the son of Lieutenant-Governor Grose . Ar one time she was the only sea-going vessel in the colony , HMS Sirius having been wrecked at Norfolk Island in l 790 .
Francis was regularly used to tTansport stores and passengers to Green Hills , which is now Windsor , on the Hawkesbury . ln the building of ships it was necessary to build ships ' boats and it is from these that the first pleasure boats appeared in Port Jackson . Old club history records the first pleasure boat to have been launched as a ' 3 ton , open boat belonging to a colonist named Robert Campbell of Can1pbell ' s Wharf , Sydney Cove '. The boat was completely open , with inboard ballast and , similar to all ships ' boats in those days , a sliding gumer sail . Tllis was in the 1820s . The second pleasure boat launched appears to be Eclipse which was similar to Campbell ' s first sailing boat but larger . Then apparently came Petrel . a schooner built for a consortium from the Bank of New South Wales . She is reported as sailing to Botany Bay and back and could be claimed as the first ' yacht ' to have made an ocean passage in lhe colony .
In the 1820s the pleasure yachts found on Port Jackson were roughly built boats between 20 and 30ft overall , with one lO three masts , severely raked , and rigged with sliding gunter sails and jibs set on long pole bowsprits . They were straight-stemmed wilh long counters , narrow beam , and their booms overhung their counters and often dipped dangerously into the seas and swell . They were invariably painted black and trimmed with a gold sheersrrake ribbon . Off the wind they used to set a big squaresail
which they carried from a yard .
The first recorded race that we can find w ; is in the Aush · aiian on 25 April l 827 . Jn lhe Navy and Merchant Service it was inevitable that when rwoor n1ore ships met in harbour rivalry would result in a contest of ship against ship , fleet against fleet . Where possible . civilians were invited to participate . There is some doubt ! hat this is the first Austtalian regatta , as reported by the Ausrralian and the Gazerre , as the Hobarr Town Gazette reports a regatta as early as 1824 and a regatta on theDerwenton 3January 1827 . The Australian reported :
First Australian Regatta Saturday 28 April 1827 . Sweepstake of 20 Spanish dollarn for each boat not pulling more than five oars from Dawes Point .
Second race sailed for a purse of 50 dollars . Start off Dawes Point round Sow and Pigs and finish . First sailing race to be sailed for a purse of 50 Spanish dollars added to a sweepstake of five dollars each by open boats not exceeding 30 ft keel . To start from their own moorings off Dawes Point , go round Sow and Pigs and end by passing between two boats moored off Sydney Cove , second boat to halve the sweepstake . Sailing boats to take up their mooring at half past 12 and slllrt at one o ' clock . Yards and booms may be topped up but no sail sec unill the second gun fires . Moorings under direction of Mr Nicholson -lots drawn for station .
If a boat on the larboard tack runs foul of a boat on the starboard she will be distanced or if she makes use of an oar . Signed John Nicholson , Judge and Treasurer .
20