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Tern

Vessel numberHV000212

Vessel Registration NumberSA 234S

Sail NumberSA 234S

Vessel class 21 Foot Restricted Class (1907 - 2007)

Date1931

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 7.62 m x 6.4 m x 2.44 m x 0.61 m (25 ft x 21 ft x 8 ft x 2 ft)

DescriptionTERN was built in 1931 by George Ross for speedboat enthusiast AG (Arthur) Rymill from the well-known South Australian Rymill family, at Woodville in South Australia. The origins of the design are unknown. It has a larger volume hull shape than the typical proportions used in the 21 Foot Restricted Class, with a big transom and blunt bow. This has given rise to speculation that it is based on a bigger yacht with the ends 'cut off' to bring it into the maximim 7.62 m (25 ft) length allowed. One suggestion is that it is modified Scandinavian metre boat design.

The carvel planked hull was built with spruce, jarrah and other local timbers. It was fitted out as an open boat as required by the class rules. The spruce used in construction is understood to have been left over from one of Rymill's many racing hydroplanes, all called TORTOISE.

TERN was raced in South Australia, but it is uncertain if Rymill was part of the regular crew. A record from Australian Motor Boat and Yachting in early 1932 reports that Ross was the skipper for TERN in a race on Port Adelaide. Rymill was Commodore of the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron, and he may have sponsored the boat for club members to use, a common practice in other states with boats from this class. TERN represented South Australia in at least one Forster Cup series at Port Adelaide in the 1930s. Ross, the builder, appears to have bought TERN around 1935 and old photographs show it being used for day sailing and other recreational activities around Milang on Lake Alexandrina.

At some point a cabin was added, along with a shoal draft keel, turning it into a small, but handy cruising yacht. In the 1960s a diesel engine was fitted by Jim Needle, to replace an earlier Vire petrol motor. Jim's wife insisted on the diesel engine after Jim had been in an accident on another vessel with a petrol motor in which a colleague died.

In 2008 TERN retained its small diesel auxiliary engine and the cabin was still in place. Only a shallow section of the keel addition had been retained, as a form of docking keel to protect the boat if it grounded on the many shoals in the Goolwa district. It was sailing and racing occasionally in vintage regattas and as part of the small fleet of new and historic 21 Foot Restricted Class yachts sailing from Goolwa.
SignificanceTERN is a wooden racing yacht built in South Australia in 1931. It is an example of the nationally important 21 Foot Restricted Class from the early years of the class. The yacht has an unusually large hull shape for the class.

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