Tam-0-Shanter

Vessel numberHV000297

Vessel Registration NumberKP857 N

Sail Number2681

Previous owner Royal Australian Navy (Australian, founded 1913)

Date1951

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 10.2 m x 2.4 m x 1.6 m (33.47 ft x 7.87 ft x 5.25 ft)

DescriptionErnest Digby's design for TAM-O-SHANTER's hull was described in the May 1951 issue of Seacraft magazine as having 'similar underwater lines to those of Digby's Sayonara Cup winner FRANCES.' This was a good indication of the yacht's potential. FRANCES was one of the top performing 8 Metre class racing yachts in Australia at the time. It was built from NZ kauri, blue gum and spotted gum.

TAM O SHANTER was first raced in the 1951 Bass Straight Race from Queenscliff to Devonport. A newspaper article about this race described TAM-O-SHANTER as a new boat, placing second on corrected time, with the same result in 1952 and then sailing again in 1953.

TAM-O-SHANTER was raced as well as cruised in Victorian waters. By the mid-1950s it was owned by the Royal Australian Navy, which used the yacht for naval cadet sail-training on Port Phillip, Victoria. With a navy crew it took part in five Sydney to Hobart races: 1954,55,56,59 and 60 with its best result a 7th placing. In 1965 TAM-O-SHANTER was again entered in the Sydney to Hobart race by new owner K MacGregor.

The yacht has had seven owners in almost sixty years and is now based in New South Wales. Ii has remained in its original 1951 configuration, with minor repairs to the structure, and a Yanmar diesel auxiliary engine installation. The current owner is now undertaking an extensive overhaul to bring it back to top condition.

SignificanceTAM-O-SHANTER is wooden yacht built in Victoria in the early 1950s. It is one of a small number of surviving yachts designed by Ernest Digby from Melbourne, Victoria. He was well known in Victoria for his designs of a series of racing yachts. TAM-O-SHANTER, however, was built as a cruising yacht in 1950/51 by AD MacKenzie, from the Melbourne Harbour Trust and Commodore of the Sandringham Yacht Club.