HURRICA V undergoing sailing trials in November 2008

Images(8)

HURRICA V under Bermudian rig cruising off Obelisk Beach on Sydney Harbour in 1950.

Part of the original General Arrangment plan for HURRICA V, by Camper and Nicholson, 1924

HURRICA V at the Classic and Wooden Boat Festival in 2012.

HURRICA V crossing Bass Strait in February 2019

Hurrica V

Vessel numberHV000053

Official Number151 812

(not assigned)315

Builder WM Ford Boatbuilders

Designer Camper and Nicholsons

Previous owner Commonwealth of Australia , Navy

Vessel type Royal Australian Navy Vessels

Date1924

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 17.85 m x 12.75 m x 4.35 m x 2 m, 35 tonnes (58.6 ft x 41.8 ft x 14.25 ft x 6.56ft., 35.56 tons)
Registered Dimensions: 20.58 tons

DescriptionThe 17.85 m (59 ft) long gaff rigged ketch HURRICA V was built by W.M. Ford as a gentleman's yacht for the owner William Oliver, a wealthy pastoralist. He was 73 years old when HURRICA V was delivered to him in Melbourne in 1924. Under his ownership HURRICA V cruised the Bass Strait area and was a well known yacht at the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria. Mr Oliver had a previous yacht from the same designers called HURRICA II which was built by C.Lucas in Hobart in 1907.

HURRICA V changed hands for the first time in 1941 and was brought up to Sydney by William Stuart. Shortly after, in 1943 the World War II emergency laws allowed the Commonwealth Government to requisition the yacht for war service. Stripped down, with a new diesel and machine guns mounted on deck the renamed HMAS STINGRAY served in the Port Moresby and Milne Bay areas of New Guinea. In 1946 it was offered back to Stuart who re-purchased the vessel, but now also owned the big schooner ADA.

Stuart sold HURRICA V in 1948. Subsequent owners used the yacht in Sydney and Pittwater for some years before it headed back to the New Guinea and New Caledonia area, a trip that included weathering a 5 day cyclone. Another cruise took the craft to Indonesia and another cyclone, then keel damage on a reef. HURRICA V's final cruise was to Fiji, at a time when it was also the home for its owner on Pittwater, north of Sydney.

Throughout the period after Oliver had sold the yacht it underwent a series of changes including a Bermudan rig and major revisions to the interior, deck and superstructure. Although probably necessary due to age, some of this work was not very sympathetic to the original character and fine construction of the vessel.

From 2002 a project was started to refurbish HURRICA V, including a complete re-fastening programme, and it was fitted with a new Bermudian rig on a timber spars, a restored deck and restored superstructure arrangement.

HURRICA V has now been returned to its original elegant appearance. HURRICA V's restoration was completed by 2011, in time for the yacht to sail south and be a major attraction at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart that year.

It has since appeared at other Classic and Wooden Boat festivals, and played an important role in the film The Great Gatsby.

HURRICA V was sold by Steve Gunns in 2020 and is now moored in San Francisco on the west coast of the United States. In 2022 HURRICA V won the "Best of Show", professionally done restoration, and "People's Choice" Awards at the Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show in San Francisco.

Update May 2023: HURRICA V's hull has been repainted and deck brightwork revarnished in Mexico. In San Francisco its spars were wooded down and revarnished. A new suit of sails were added as well as new canvas and bimini.
SignificanceHURRICA V is wooden cruising yacht built in NSW in 1924. It is an important example of a luxury yacht built in Sydney by W. M. Ford Boatbuilders, and was built to an English design by C. E. Nicholson of the famous firm Camper and Nicholsons. It has a long and varied history including service in World War II.

Vessel Highlights