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Alwyn

Vessel numberHV000226

Vessel Registration Number151551

Sail NumberA7

Designer Alfred Blore

Builder Wood & Mackey

Date1923

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 11.37 m x 9.08 m x 2.9 m x 1.68 m, 6.27 tonnes (37.3 ft x 29.8 ft x 9.5 ft x 5.5 ft, 6.37 tons)

DescriptionALWYN was built in 1923 by Robert Wood and James Mackey, and named after their wives Alice and Winifred. Mackey was the grandson of James Doig Mackey, a Battery Point ship builder One story associated with the yacht is that the garage had to be demolished to remove the boat from the suburban Hobart backyard in which it was built. It appears the partners may have had a falling out as the yacht changed ownership soon after it was launched.

Alfred Blore designed ALWYN and near sisters GRAYLING and ALTURA as larger, improved versions of the popular Tasmanian One Design class, which were about 10 metres long. GRAYLING was launched in 1922, followed by ALTURA and ALWYN in the next year.

Blore had prepared plans for the One Design class around 1910. The drawings were based on an American design and six were built in Tasmania and raced in Hobart. The three new boats however were Blore's own work having deeper hull sections than the One Design hull which had a flatter floor shape. The keel shape in particular suggests Blore was aware of some of the hydrodynamic suction effects caused by different keel sections.

During the early 1920s yacht racing on the Derwent was reformed into A,B,C and D divisions, and the existing One Design class was absorbed into the 'A Class', where ALWYN and its sister ships, Blore's newer, larger and faster boats, outraced them.

ALWYN is 11.37 metres long, and the hull planking, frames and deck planking are all Huon pine. It was originally gaff-rigged and with its long bow and stern overhangs presented an elegant sight on the Derwent River. ALWYN was well known in the 1920s and 1930s and widely reported in the Mercury and Illustrated Tasmanian Mail newspapers. In 1924 and 1926 it won the prestigious Lipton Trophy at the Hobart Regatta.

The yacht was owned and helmed by Norman Wizenberg for most of its Hobart 'A Class' racing career at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and the Derwent Sailing Squadron. In 1938 ALWYN was converted to race in the 'A Class' cruiser division by the then owner G.K.Evans and in 1940 the yacht was modified to a yawl rig. Other modifications included bulwarks for additional freeboard and half the original low cabin was raised to be a doghouse for full head room.

In the early 1950s ALWYN was brought to Geelong, Victoria, by Dick Collins to compete in the 'A Class' racing events at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club. From this time until the 1960s ALWYN's provenance is not as well documented. It was on the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria register named CYGNET and then on the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron list as PANDORA when owned by Bill Elliot (son of Phar Lap's jockey in the USA, Billy Elliot). Bill Elliot owned the vessel from about 1961 to 1974, and changed the name back to ALWYN when he moved across to Hobsons Bay Yacht Club. When Bill passed away at a young age the vessel passed to his brother-in-law, the current owner.

For the last 40 years ALWYN has been on the Hobsons Bay Yacht Club's register and a notable competitor in local club racing, and Australia Day regatta racing to Geelong. In 2008 ALWYN raced with the Classic Yacht Association of Victoria on Port Phillip Bay. To show its racing pedigree after 83 years, ALWYN won the 2006 Royal Yacht Club of Victoria Lipton Cup Classic Yacht Trophy.

The original hull and deck planking is intact, but the floor timbers, deck beams and chain plates have been replaced using original dimensions, The structure still illustrates typical Tasmanian boatbuilding techniques of the period. It has a Bermudian sloop rig, which the current owner hopes to convert back to the 1920s fractional rig sail plan which Alfred Blore specified for GRAYLING and ALTURA. Sailing again in 2013, the hull has been fully splined during a three year project, with more work planned in due course.

SignificanceALWYN is wooden racing built in Tasmanai. It is a Tasmanian 'A Class' racing yacht from 1923, and one of three improved versions of the popular Tasmanian One Design class by Alfred Blore, an early and versatile designer from Tasmania. It was closely involved with yacht racing on the Derwent River for almost two decades.