Corella

Vessel numberHV000761

Sail NumberJ64

Date1939

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 5.49 m × 4.88 m × 0.41 m (18 ft × 16 ft × 1.33 ft)

DescriptionCORELLA is an 18 foot 5.5 m long carvel planked vessel, with a sloop rig and centreboard. It was built for Sydney owner J Shelley and originally called WHITE-MARR. It is sail number J 64 for the class, which grew to over 100 yachts. Later owners included wealthy businessmen Stuart Doyle and Frank Albert who named it MIRRAMAR III (Doyle’s other vessel MIRRAMARR II was one of the largest motor cruisers on the Harbour), then Don Taylor, who named it CORELLA, the name he used for many of his yachts. Doyle, Albert and Taylor were strong supporters of yachting and had been involved in the Restricted 21-foot class and Cadet Class before the Jubilees. Other owners included D Roberts and P Snowball, Dermer Bennett, D Lamb and P Purvis.

CORELLA, under that name and other names competed in numerous Jubilee-class races over the course of its racing life, including several Huntingfield Cup regattas which are the class, national championships. In 2002 with John “Beetle” Hebden as skipper it won the Charles Peel trophy. CORELLA is well-maintained and as a wooden hull it is an increasingly rare example of the class, and now remains one of very few older timber Jubilees still racing regularly. In early 2017 it raced in the Huntingfield Cup again, held on Pittwater by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club as of their sesquicentenary celebrations. Jubilees were a founding class raced by the club when it settled into new premises on Pittwater in the late 1940s.

The class began after storms in the early 1930s destroyed many yachts on their moorings in Port Phillip. Mr J A Linacre, then Commodore of Royal Brighton Yacht Club, suggested that fleets could be rebuilt with a One Design Yacht, moderately priced and suitable to withstand heavy seas and hard weather. This was met with considerable interest and sailors from other clubs met at Royal Brighton Yacht Club, to discuss the ideas that became the Jubilee One-Design Class.

The class takes its name from the year 1935 when the class was established which was the Jubilee year of the reign of King George V (1935) who was also a yachtsman.

The class handbook notes that the design was created around an agreed set of parameters: A powerful and stable design, able to withstand big seas; a handy size to facilitate slipping, launching and beaching if necessary; Length Overall 5.468 m (18 ft) Length waterline 4.877m (16 ft), Draught 0.406 (1 ft 4 in).

The design was to be controlled by plans and specifications, to prevent being made obsolete by later boats improving on the original design. Mr. W. D. Higgins from Royal Brighton Yacht Club worked with the well-known and respected Victorian designers Chas. Peel to draw up complete designs.

Within six months ten boats were built; and the rate of growth continued steadily as it was adopted nationally. Fibreglass hulls were introduced in the early 1970s, with J36 GAYWIN becoming the “plug” hull from which a mould was taken, and the class throughout Australia has had approximately one hundred yachts listed.

The Jubilee Design has proved itself under all conditions, and yachtsmen are unanimous in their praise of the complete seaworthiness. ease of handling and safety margin of these yachts.

SignificanceCORELLA is wooden yacht built in Sydney in 1939. It is an example of the Jubilee class designed by Charlie Peel and was built at The Spit in Sydney by George Riddell. Its early owners include a number of significant people who either owned larger vessels or were strong supporters of yacht racing, and reflects the strong interest in small boat racing that this class fostered. CORELLA has sailed in the premier trophy for the class, the Huntingfield Cup, and is also a winner of the Charles Peel trophy in 2002. It is one of just a few original wooden examples of the class still racing regularly.