The small Swahili coastal town called Lamu is UNESCO heritage listed site of cultural significance. The labyrinth of narrow laneways is crowded with people and donkeys going about their business, not for the tourists (who are few and far between) but carrying out the commerce that’s been going on here for a couple of millennia. And for a few days each November the largely Muslim community celebrates their culture and races their dhows. These craft which first appeared on this coast five centuries before Jesus recruited his first fisherman, were designed primarily as trading vessels. They have a characteristic lateen sail, which hangs off a long boom, suspended at an angle from a short forward leaning mast. They are objects of beauty, but more importantly they are highly effective sailing craft, chiselled into their current form by two and a half millennia of practical experience. In Lamu a few dhows still work under sail, delivering coral blocks, salt, sand and the occasional tourist to where they need to be. Globally, the Indian Ocean Dhow is one of only a dozen types of wind powered craft that are still used for genuine commerce or subsistence. In November each year, just as the easterly trade winds become established, the dhows are transformed to race! There solid masts and booms are replaced with lighter racing versions, new sails are sewn from Indian cotton panels, and their hulls are patched and painted with whatever is available. With minuscule budgets, they rely far more on ingenuity and generations of unwritten seafaring lore, than technology to make each boat go fast! The lateen rig is labour intensive and the crews of twenty five or more crowd aboard a 30ft boat and sing as they wrestle their way around the 20 nautical mile course. Continual bailing is needed to stop the dhows sinking while a respected afterguard perches on a small decked area above the transom, elegant in their embroidered kofia caps, nursing the tiller and scanning the water for changes in wind and tide.

It was another week to remind ourselves that we are doing this out of choice not obligation. A dramatic night in the windy passage between Corsica and Sardinia, taught us some good lessons, and put the breaks on any overconfidence that might have been creeping in.

A few of the additions we made to our 50 year old S&S Swan 47 before we moved aboard to live.

Getting to know our 1978 S&S Swan 47 on a short passage from France to Corsica

James Wood's custodian of the cray boat MARGARET PEARL does some investigation into Jukung sailing in Bali

Captain Mia is born and bred on the Island of Lamu in Eastern Kenya. He took me for a sail and explained the basics of tacking and gybing a dhow, the history the area and how the ultra competitive annual dhow racing works.

Having just finished their Championship, competitors and festival goers gathered for a discussion on history and future of the class. The discussion was hosted by SWS editor Sal Balharrie

There are not many boats that can sail competitively in the Sydney-Hobart one month, and then show up at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival the next, and outshine many of the other more pampered exhibitors. You can make a good case that LOVE & WAR is Australia’s most successful ocean racing yacht. Fifty two years ago she was drawn by Olin Stephens when he was at the peak of his extraordinary powers. Since then she has won the Sydney-Hobart on three occasions, and is rarely in the bottom two thirds of the fleet. In the the recent 2024 event, she again won her division, and came 14th overall, in conditions that were not always her forte. It would be a brave pundit who definitively predicts that, given the right weather, she couldn’t win the event a fourth time!

Superb weather on the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Opening Day - and Roger Mills was at the start to record the Classic Yachts racing. AThey sailed a short harbour course for the season opener, in fresh south westerly winds and sunshine. Rawhiti A2 took line honours looking rather overpowered at times with her large Genoa. Ariki was close behind - 41 seconds - and took out the handicap win.

The Story of Holly and Jordy and the yacht CLARE... "I was just scrolling Facebook one day, and we had been in the market for a timber boat for a little while. And occasionally I would send Holly ridiculous things from boats online or on Facebook. I'd come across this Maurice Griffiths boat, and I sent it to Holly. They were asking 800 bucks . And I was like, Oh, you must be dreaming. So I sent it to Holly, and she was like, Oh, you got to get it now. "

To read the full story of EVENING TIDE visit www.southernwoodenboatsailing.com Bob Perry, although well and truly an American, has a small connection to Australia. In 1957 when Perry was twelve, he and his family moved from Sydney, to Vancouver, British Columbia. At the beginning of his ninth-grade year, they moved again to Mercer Island, Washington, an area renowned for its school system. Here, his interest in sailboats really clicked. He met famous designer William Garden, joined the local yacht club, and excelled at mechanical drawing. 60 years on, his designs are some of the most successful cruising yachts around such as the Tatoosh 42, Tayana 37 and the Valiant 40. Throughout his career he has designed boats for many well recognised brands in the yachting industry, such as Tayana, Cheoy Lee, Valiant, Ta Shing, Islander and Passport. But the design we were in Launceston to see is a close relative of the Baba 40, but unlike all her sister ships this is the only one in the world made out of timber. It's called a Perry 40.

Paul discusses the philosophy of the festival, the registration process, its Tasmanian heritage and hints at what he's planning for February 2025

With the 100th Nationals of the 12ft Cadet Dinghies to be held at RBYC in early January, here's a video of the 1987 Stonehaven taken and edited by Trent Read. The regatta was won by Warren Young in the Muir built Volante.II.

An SWS interview with Belinda Joslin and Annie Means

The NO MAN'S LAND crew step aboard FAIR WINDS in the Australian Women's Keelboat Regatta

"My name is Holly (22 years old) and my husband Jordy (23 years old) and I are the very proud owners of ‘Clare’. She is a Maurice Griffiths, 40 foot ketch planked in 1 1/2 Jarrah, built and launched in 1951 in WA. She is currently out of the water in Hastings VIC and we are currently completing a full restoration."

We all know what happened to the WINSTON CHURCHILL. But her accomplishments in life have been eclipsed by her tragic demise. Many might not know of her whirlwind circumnavigation in 1967. A time in history when the word “laconic” began to be owned by Australians. What better way to hear the story than from the mouth of the inimitable Warren Neale crew member and so much more!

The most perfect Herreschoff in Australia. We talk to her creators and custodians about the journey in bringing her to life and the next stage of a second custodianship.

The Islands of the Kent and Furneaux Groups are surely one of the great undiscovered cruising grounds of Australia. They are not for the faint hearted and will punish the arrogant sailor, but with preparation and respect, they reward in spades.