Page 85 - Mark Chews Forty Two Australian Wooden Sailing Boats Sept 17 2020

It would be hard to leave a 120 year old William Fife III design off the list especially
as she has been and continues to be such an integral part of Tasmania’s sailing
history.

AOTEA was built at Williamstown, Victoria in 1900 by the Nelson Place boat builder,
Clement Blunt, to a design by the famous Scottish naval architect William Fife III.
She was built as a lug rigged yawl for use on Port Phillip Bay, allegedly for the
Governor General of Victoria. In her first race at the Geelong Regatta on New Year’s
Day 1901 she was dismasted and was later re-rigged as a sloop. AOTEA was not
entirely successful under that rig either and before the 1901 yachting season was
over, she was re-rigged as a cutter with a pole mast and a jack yard. This improved
her performance and she was the fourth most successful competitor in Royal Yacht
Club of Victoria events for seasons ending in 1902, 1903 and 1905 and third in 1904.
Owner A. C. Barber was later a well-known Sydney-based naval architect. In 1907,
Hobart clerk A. V. Windsor purchased AOTEA. Under his ownership AOTEA won the
cruisers race at the Hobart regatta three years in a row: 1908, 1909 and 1910, sailed
by Frederick Turner on all 3 occasions. She led the fleet round Cape Bruny in the
1908 100 Mile Ocean Race (now called Bruny Island race) but broke her gaff.
In 1951, with her days as a first class racer behind her, AOTEA’s then owner Stan
Davidson of the Bellerive Yacht Club had her topsides built up at Cuthbertson’s Yards
at Montague Bay to make her more comfortable for inshore cruising. Unlike many
such conversions it was tastefully done and although it completely altered her
character she re-emerged as an elegant craft, her rakish lines set off by oval port
holes along her raised hurricane deck.

She has been in the Cygnet area since 1996 where she has continued to be loved,
raced and sailed in the Huon Estuary and Channel some 120 years after she was
built, winning the Noel Doepel Classic Yacht Trophy at Dover 3 years in a row from
2017 to 2019.
On the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania’s website she is currently advertised for sale.

CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 85