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Windward II

Vessel numberHV000317

Sail NumberS1929

Builder Percy Coverdale

Designer Norman Dallimore

Date1929

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 13.41 m x 10.41 m x 3.12 m x 1.98 m, 12.8 tonnes (44 ft x 34.15 ft x 10.25 ft x 6.5 ft, 13 tons)

DescriptionDesigned by English designer and sailor Norman E Dallimore, the carvel planked hull was built in Hobart at Coverdale's Battery Point yard and launched early in 1930 for Edwin Webster, a towering figure in Hobart yachting over many decades from 1900. It was rigged as a staysail schooner, the first time this American style of rig was employed on a vessel built in Australia.

A report of its launching in February 1930 Australian Motor Boat and Yachting, notes that 'It would be difficult to conceive a more handsome looking craft than WINDWARD and she is finished in a manner that would do justice to any palatial liner. The topsides are painted a shamrock green, while the underbody is a lighter green.'

Webster only owned WINDWARD for a short period. In 1931 it was sold to James March Hardie and sailed north to Sydney and his club the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (RSYS). WINDWARD now became WINDWARD II because a yacht with the name WINDWARD (HV000055) was already sailing on Sydney Harbour.

Hardie had used his previous yacht MORNA primarily for cruising but with the purchase of WINDWARD II he was able to compete seriously in the RSYS racing program. WINDWARD II quickly made a name in the following season, winning the 1932-33 Fairfax Cup. It went on to win the Fairfax Cup four years in a row. WINDWARD II won the Gascoigne Cup in 1933-34 and the Revonah Cup in 1936-37. In 1935 a youthful Lou d'Alpuget joined the crew and remained aboard for sixteen years. D'Alpuget gained enough experience aboard WINDWARD II to become a confident sailor and yachting journalist, and the dominant writer on the subject up to the 1990s.

After World War II WINDWARD II and the yachts THETIS, NORN and MORNA re-started racing on Sydney Harbour. Despite its age and the competition of new yachts, WINDWARD II dominated the 1948-49 season by winning the Fairfax, Norn, Bayly-Macarthur and Boomerang Cups. In August 1949 Hardie retired as Commodore of the Royal Sydney Yachting Squadron, but continued to sail his beloved yacht.

WINDWARD II was changed to a single mast cutter rig in the 1960s. After Hardie's death the yacht was sold and changed hands four times until the current owner bought the vessel from its Brisbane-based owner and sailed it down to Melbourne. It was in excellent structural condition and only required refinishing to be restored.
After a racing accident in 2006 WINDWARD II was given a major overhaul under the supervision of Dan Atkins at the Wooden Boat Centre in Melbourne's Docklands. By 2008 it was racing again, under cutter rig, and once more WINDWARD II started to gather trophies, including a first in the Classic Yacht Division at Skandia Geelong Week in January 2008.
SignificanceWINDWARD II is a wooden racing yacht built in Tasmania in the late 1920s. It was a well known racing yacht on Sydney Harbour from 1931 until the 1970s, under the ownership of Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron member and Commodore James March Hardie. It has a significant association with that club. WINDWARD II was built in 1929 in Tasmania as WINDWARD, by Percy Coverdale, one of Tasmania's most respected boatbuilders.