Yachting and the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club 1988 | Page 23

Mr Scon

Some competitors lo the nrst Australian regatta Ausrralia

Torbay yawl Red

This rule is interesting . Perhaps the first ever yacht racing rule in Australia ?

The foUowing Monday ' s issue of the Australia11 records in glowing terms the blue sky , bright blue sea , and a Oat calm all morning with . as sometimes happens today . a light ENE breeze making in the afternoon . Many ladies and ' currency lassies with their lads • watched the sport from • the Government Demesne and the Macquarie Fon '. Because oflack of wind four of the seven swters ( five of these belonged to watermen ) gave up after the first beat . Lieutenant Prest . on , sailing a naval boat , Black Swan . with what may have been ! lie first Bermudan rig in Aus11nlian waters , won by a mile and a half . On nearing Pinchgut she ( Black Swan ) took in her

sq \ Ull ' C sail as she edged alongside HMS Success , fired the complimentary gun and manned ber yards .

1be above . regatta was organi . s <: d by the captains and officers of two warships in pon ; HMS S11cc . ss ( Captain Stirling ) and HMS Rainbow ( Captain J . Rous ).

These early yachtS carried inside ballas1 of iron or big s1ones in the bilge and they often fiUed up and sunk like the stones they carried , as they were rarely enclosed with even half a deck . Examples of these early yachts included James Milson ' s Friends / rip , George Thom1on ' s schooner Petrel and another yacht owned by Mr Milson , the 12-tonner , Sophia .

TI1c sliding gunter mainsails looked rather like n Bermudan soil in 1ha1 , there being no gaff , rbe luff continued in n strnight line up the mas ~ but the tremendous length of the boom in rela1ion to the mast gave it a diffcrenl aspect from the Bermudan high aspect ratio allogcther .

By 1845 the gaff mainsail was replacing the slid . ing gunrcr mainsail on such yachtS as Champion . Alarm and Eclipse . Square-beaded topsails

also appear to have become popular , such as in the pieture of Bronuwlng and lxion on page 22 .

By 1834 the local fleet in Port Jackson seems to have been Sophia ( J . Milson ), Ariel ( John Ritchie },

Wave ( Mr El yard ), Seag11 / I ( Mt Gordner ), Northem Stor ( Mr Sawyer ), Athol Ranger ( Mr Manin ), Aloddin ( Mr Moffn1 ) and Swallow ( Burton Bradley ).

These gentlemen used to race among themselves on odd occasions . especially when visiting sailing ship caplllins , bolh Navy and Merchant Service , would organise regartas . Many of these old sailing ship captains carried special gigs and luggers with false keels and inboard ballast for just such occasions . and competition among them was very keen .

In 1836 live boa1 owners among the coloni ~ IS banded 1ogcther not as a club , bu1 as friends , and they raced among themselves for stakes pul up by each other . This group of friends flew a flag similar t0theRoyal Sydney Yacht Squadron of today . They were Burt . on Bradley Swallow , John Ritchie Ariel , James MilsonSophia . MrElyard Wave . and George McPherson . the name of whose boa1 has been lost to us . TI1is was 1he first indication that thesettlcrs were looking around for a club of some kind under which Ll1ey could race 1heir sailing craft . However , there appears 10 be no written record of any races organ · ised by this band of colonislS , and any races that did take pla .: c wou ' prubiWly unuffidal .

James Milsoo Jor was a founder of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron . H1s famous old yacht Friendship , pictured , won the Sydney Anniver · sary Regatta Cup for six years in succession from 1842 unril 1847 . This was well before the Royal Sydney Yachr Squadron and the Prince Alfred Yacht Club were est : abUsbed .

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