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 Couta Boat Sailing at the Geelong Wooden Boat Festival Thistle For an almost first time couta boat crew member, the racing on Sunday for heats 2 and 3 of the Victorian State Titles at Geelong covered a good range of conditions, starting with a stiff breeze and everyone on the rails, then ending with the crew forward and to leeward catching the last breath of a dead offshore zephyr as we drifted over the line. I say almost first time, I do have experience sailing the lug rigged Thistle from 1903 at the Australian National Maritime Museum where I am a curator of historic craft, so the chance to gain some different Couta boat crewing experience was not one to pass up. In fact the object of the exercise was two fold. Obviously I was going to learn more about how to sail a couta boat, getting a feel for how a well set up boat points, heels and handles, and I saw the gaff set up for comparison to our lug. But the second objective was just to be part of the scene and action, rather than an onshore observer taking notes. Thanks to Carmen Bell’s quick enquiry on my behalf, I was on board C888 Mystify with Bernie O'Hanlon and crew, and given the job of running the coarse end of the jib sheet. The wide range of conditions gave me an excellent overview, the flat, easy exit mainsail shape being the feature that made the most impression; I think the ‘old’ main has seen better days on Thistle. Stability felt a bit better too, and the attention given to sail set and trim upwind and down was another key factor in getting good performance. I hope I can apply some of this to the museum’s use of Thistle, bearing in mind the museum’s interpretation of the craft is aimed at showing the couta fishing tradition of this iconic Couta boat owners can help me too, with my project the Australian Register of Historic Vessels, a database of existing Australian historic craft which some will be familiar with. Thistle, Ariel, Maud, Amy Christina and others are already listed, just go to www.anmm.gov.au/arhv and have a look. The Register would like to list more of the wonderful early craft that the class has kept alive, some were part of the fleet on the weekend and where possible I spoke to you or left a form on the boat. Whether you race or not, if you have one of the original boats even up to the 50s, that’s the type we would like to record to show the huge variety that still survive and remind people how important this truly Australian type is to the development of our maritime heritage. You can contact me on dpayne@anmm.gov.au or 02 9298 3875. Meanwhile, when can I come out sailing again? David Payne Curator Australian Register of Historic Vessels Australian National Maritime Museum |
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