METUNG in London on its circumnavigation

Images(4)

METUNG returning to Metung Victoria 2019

Metung

Vessel numberHV000819

Builder JC Bull

Designer Alan Payne (1921 - 1995)

Date1956

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 14.63 m × 11.89 m × 3.75 m × 1.83 m, 20 tonnes (48 ft × 39 ft × 12.3 ft × 6 ft, 19.68 tons)

DescriptionMetung is a 48 ft long 12 ft wide ocean cruising and racing vessel designed by renowned Australian naval architect Alan Payne. It was built by the J C Bull in 1956 in Metung Victoria and is currently undergoing restoration. It was constructed at the well-known local Bull shipyard, established in 1914 on Shaving Point by J.C Bull and operational until 1984. Metung’s carvel planked hull is made of Huon pine, with blue gum ribs and a grey gum keel. It was rigged as a ketch with a main and mizzen mast, its original timber spars replaced due to breakages. Metung’s design was significant as the second of Alan Payne’s designs to race in the Sydney to Hobart, and with its heavy displacement hull a stark contrast to Payne’s first Sydney to Hobart boat, Nocturne. Following the construction of Metung Payne maintained a heavy displacement style for his ocean racing designs, especially with the Tasman Seabird class.

Metung was built for Dr Toby Beatty, Bairnsdale doctor and second Metung Yacht Club Commodore. In 1957 Metung competed in its first Sydney to Hobart yacht race placing 5th overall. It took part in six more Sydney to Hobarts, six of which under Beatty and one under the Holmes brothers, who embarked on a global circumnavigation in 1969, following on from the 1968 race.

The Holmes Brothers first circumnavigated New Zealand in April 1969 and then traced back to cruise north along the Queensland coast to Papua Guinea. They then headed west through the Indonesian islands, and up towards the Horn of Africa. Passing through the Gulf of Aden and into the Red Sea, the brothers then travelled up the Gulf of Aqaba towards Israel. They had Metung lifted out of the water and transported by land to the Mediterranean Sea. The brothers then travelled along the Turkish coast to Greece, around the coastlines of Italy and Spain before arriving in London. Their return voyage took in the coast of Portugal, the Caribbean Islands, and the Panama Canal, before arriving back in Sydney on the 26th of September 1972.

On the 15 March 1974 70 miles off Jervis Bay in NSW, Metung was struggling through 40 knot winds with a damaged propeller. The ketch was on its way to New Zealand on a second attempted circumnavigation voyage under skipper Rex Small. A mayday call was dispatched by the crew and received by the Maritime Operations centre at midday in Canberra, HMAS Onslow and helicopter tracking crews directed into the search area. During the late afternoon he vessel tipped 80 degrees and was abandoned, the crew forced to their life rafts. The five crewmembers were picked up by a RAN helicopter at 6pm and returned to shore, the vessel itself found two days later by a freighter and taken in to Jervis Bay.

In late 1974 Metung transferred in ownership to Bill Woodward. From 1976 to 1982 Metung competed in four Melbourne to Hobart races, three Sydney to Suva’s, and one final Sydney to Hobart race in 1982.

Metung was returned to Sydney Harbour in 1996 where it passed through various owners and remained stationary for decades. In 2019 a non for profit group Metung 4 Metung bought the vessel off ebay, and has been restoring it since. Peter Bull, grandson of the original builder, is part of this group. As of July 2021 scaffolding has been constructed in order for work to be carried out on Metung. Once fully restored Metung will become a community asset available for sail to anyone within the community.

SignificanceMetung is a 48 ft ocean cruising and racing vessel designed by renowned Australian naval architect Alan Payne. It marked the beginning of Payne’s heavy displacement hull design style for his ocean racing yachts. It was built in 1956 by J C Bull in Metung Victoria for Dr Toby Beatty, and shortly thereafter competed in the 1957 Sydney to Hobart Yacht race placing fifth overall. Metung went on to compete in six more Sydney to Hobarts prior to embarking on a global circumnavigation in 1969 under the Holmes Brothers. From 1976 to 1982 Metung competed in four Melbourne to Hobart races, three Sydney to Suva’s, and one final Sydney to Hobart race in 1982. In 2021 Metung is under restoration.