Galatea
Vessel numberHV000246
Sail NumberME 11
Builder
EA Jack
Vessel class
21 Foot Restricted Class
(1907 - 2007)
Date1930
DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 7.62 m x 6.4 m x 2.44 m x 0.46 m (25 ft x 21 ft x 8 ft x 1.5 ft)
DescriptionBuilt in Tasmnia as QUONDONG by Ned Jack, who built many vessels in the region and an earlier 21 JACJDAW for its owner. GALATEA is 7.20 m (25 ft) long, carvel planked and framed up according to the detailed class rules.
The 21 was built for Horrie Petley in 1934 or early 1935 and represented Victoria in 21 Foot Restricted Class Forster Cup series and Albert Cup races, but without noteworthy results. Petley had previously owned another 21, JACKDAW, which was badly damaged in the gale on Port Phillip in 1934. He was clearly an enthusiast for the class. After World War II he is understood to have also owned the 21 Foot Restricted class yacht NAUTILUS, another Botterill boat.
Jack Crosbie owned the boat in 1951 and changed its name to GALATEA. In 1952 ownership changed again to Mick Brooke, who raced it in the Forster Cup that year.
When the class disbanded nationally in the mid-1950s, GALATEA was one of a small number of 21s bought by Otto Meik, the Commodore of the Royal St Kilda Yacht Squadron, to race as a training class. The rigs were changed to a Bermudan style, often using second hand items from yachts such as the international Dragon class.
By the 1970s the 21s were no longer needed for training and the yachts were sold to new owners around Victoria. GALATEA found a new home on the Gippsland Lakes, along with NERANA.
In 2008 GALATEA showed evidence of some modifications such as a simple cuddy cabin built over the open cockpit, normal for the class, and remains rigged with an aluminium mast and Bermudan rig; this is possibly the rig from the 1970s. The hull however retained much of its original 1930s structure allowing for the wear and tear over a 70 year period of use. In 2013 GALATEA was sold and has moved to Goolwa in SA and joined the fleet of 21s racing there.
SignificanceGALATEA is a racing yacht built in Tasmania in the mid-1930s It is an example of the 21 Foot Restricted Class which raced for the interstate series called The Forster Cup, one of the principal national yachting trophies in the period between the two world wars. GALATEA was built in Victoria in the mid 1930s.
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