Images(9)

STORM KING careened against the wharf in Rose Bay Sydney for a bottom scrub and anti-fouling du…

Launching STORM KING with the steam-powered crane at Constitution Dock Hobart in 1938

STORM KING in the backyard of the Beltz family home at Lenna Valley near Hobart in 1938, ready …

STORM BAY before the addition of a small cabin top over the saloon.

A preliminary sketch by Ron Beltz for STORM KING

Storm King

Vessel numberHV000122

Vessel Registration NumberVEN

Date1938

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 8.53 m x 10.36 m x 8.23 m x 2.9 m x 1.37 m, 5.91 tonnes (28 ft x 34 ft x 27 ft x 9.5 ft x 4.5 ft, 6 tons)

DescriptionBuilder, joiner and cabinet maker Ronald Beltz designed and built STORM KING in 1938. It is not known what inspired this design, but a later yacht he designed and built called MAVOURNEEN was based on plans for a vessel published in a 1945 Yachting World magazine, so perhaps STORM KING was also based on published plans from the mid 1930s.

The lines for STORM KING came off the Huon pine half model Beltz had carved to design the hull. He built STORM KING in his Lenah Valley back yard, pit-sawing the planks in a vacant area down hill from the house from a single Huon pine log he acquired from the Tasmanian west coast. The planks were passed through his cabinet maker's machinery. The children helped after school, fastening the planks to the framing with copper nails and roves. It is heavily built in 25 mm (1'') thick planks, and although dressed finished, some planks still show adze marks on the inside. The transom is a single plank of Huon pine.

The yacht was trucked to Hobart on an ex-army vehicle and launched into Constitution Dock by steam-powered crane in 1938. Beltz sold the vessel to a Hobart baker in 1939, and at the end of the war Sydney lawyer Bill Lieberman bought STORM KING. He had intended to race it in the Sydney to Hobart race, but instead went in that first race as navigator on WAYFARER.

STORM KING is a raised deck cutter and is in excellent condition. The hull still retains its classic profile and 1930s appearance. One of the few changes is the removal of the doghouse aft and the addition of a small coach house over the saloon for added headroom. STORM KING won two categories at the 1996 Sydney Wooden Boat Festival: 'Best Presented Yacht' and 'Best in Show'.

STORM KING returned to Tasmania in March 2023 and is moored in Geilston Bay, Hobart. It was a three week trip with layovers at Eden, Lakes Entrance, and Cape Baron Island before the last leg to Orford. STORM KING is in excellent condition with no major work anticipated.

SignificanceThe cutter STORM KING is a yacht built in Tasmania in the late 1930s. It was built by Ronald Beltz, and is an amateur designed and built yacht from Tasmania which shows the resourceful capacity of many Australians to build their own craft. Beltz designed and built a small number of craft in his backyard in suburban Hobart.