Page 15 - Mark Chews Forty Two Australian Wooden Sailing Boats Sept 17 2020

I selected this beautiful craft as a representative of the magnificent Couta Boats. launching. The RIPPLE spent her early years working from Sorrento skippered by
They must surely be the greatest Australian success story when it comes to the Tally Erlandsen whose father had jumped ship and settled in Sorrento in 1890.
rejuvenation and preservation of a traditional class of boat. They were originally
She passed from the Erlandsen family to the O’Halloran family in the 1950’s and was
used for Couta fishing in Victoria from about 1870 until the 1930's and sailed from
used for recreational fishing along the Gippsland coast. By this time she was purely
Sorrento and Queenscliff and other ports as far west as Portland. The boats headed
motor driven and a cabin had been added for comfort and practicality. The
out to the fishing grounds before dawn, usually through the entrance to Port Phillip,
O’Halloran children can vividly recall retreating to the cabin top as their grandfather
the infamous and often treacherous Rip, where the Couta boats qualities of
seaworthiness were proven. Once their quota of barracouta was met, the fishermen struggled to subdue a rather large shark in the cockpit – succeeding only after its
turned their efforts to sailing back to port as fast as they could — the first boat back thrashing had splintered the engine box.
got the best prices.
RIPPLE was rediscovered at Port Albert in 1988 by Robert Finkestein. Following a
Although load carrying capacity was important, the need for speed under sail was substantial refurbishment at the Wooden Boat Shop, Tally’s daughter, Mrs. Ida
also a desired characteristic. The typical Couta boat carried a gaff sail and jib set out Clarke, presided over her re-launching at Sorrento. In 1998 RIPPLE was purchased
on a long bowsprit, although the main sail developed into more of a gunter sail, as by Patrick O’Hara of Perth and joined the growing fleet of Couta Boats sailing in the
it had a very high peaked gaff or yard. A rig peculiar to the Couta boat evolved, West before returning to her home waters off Sorrento in 2000. This year (2018) she
which allowed for sail to be carried much higher than previously, and included the will hopefully still be sailing the waters of Port Phillip on her 100th birthday in 6
distinctive curved down bowsprit. years time.
This working fishing craft’s compromise between seaworthiness, speed and capacity
has nowadays made it a quintessential recreational sailing boat. Couta boats are
highly sought after and keenly raced. Many are built new from scratch, as the supply
of originals has been exhausted. There is a Couta sailing boat club in Sorrento and
another in Queenscliff. They are now found racing and cruising in all six states of
Australia.
RIPPLE has strong historical ties with Sorrento, originally built for Tally Erlandsen,
the then long standing lessee of the Sorrento Baths and original owner of the Fish
and Chips shop. The boat was built at Queenscliff by Peter Locke, the first boat he
built in his own right. He started working with Mitch Lacco in Queenscliff in 1924
and took over the business in 1926.

Her lines show characteristic Locke modifications to the earlier Lacco lines: a little
fuller along the garboard to assist ballasting and under the engine bed, and hence
through to the stern. She is shallower of draft than many, but this probably results
from a specific request from the owner who wanted to negotiate the shallow waters
off Sorrento rather than to ply the Rip. Lacco and Locke worked from a shed at the
rear of 31 Beach Street, Queenscliff.

Fortunately photographs remain of the launching of the RIPPLE showing the shed,
the old jetty off Wharf Street, and the sense of occasion that accompanies any new

CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 15