ENDEAVOUR in the Milang to Goolwa yacht race

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Endeavour

Vessel numberHV000447

Sail NumberGR76

Vessel Registration NumberGR76S

Previous owner Royal St Kilda Yacht Club Endeavour Syndicate

Builder J J Savage

Designer J J Savage

Vessel class 21 Foot Restricted Class (1907 - 2007)

Date1947

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 7.62 m x 6.4 m x 2.23 m x 0.71 m, 41.8 m² (25 ft x 21 ft x 7.33 ft x 2.33 ft, 450 ft²)

DescriptionENDEAVOUR was launched on Royal St Kilda Yacht Club's Ladies Day November 22 1947 by Mrs J Stoke, wife of the club's commodore. In a return to an earlier class tradition, the yacht was owned by a syndicate of club members, who had raised funds for the craft selling 1 pound shares to 170 members. Many of the craft that established the class in different states in the 1920s and early 1930s had also been funded by syndicates, clubs or patrons, and this was a rare later example of the same support. The syndicate was headed by E. Coleman.

It had been designed and built by JJ Savage at Williamstown, whose family had been one of the premier boat builders on Port Phillip for many decades. They had previous experience with the class and had also completed a near sister ALTAIR in the same year. ENDEAVOUR was probably the second last 21 built in Melbourne or nationally during the final years of the 21s as a national class. The carvel planked hull was built with spruce instead of the usual cedar or kauri planking. The frames were spotted gum. It featured the traditional gaff sloop rig and had sail number S4.

ENDEAVOUR represented the state in the 1948 Forster Cup series in Tasmania along with ALTAIR and ROYALIST. It also sailed in the 1951 series on Port Phillip under the RSKYC syndicate now headed by Barney Snider, and came second to EDALGO, another Savage design. It featured in a well known incident in the second race. ENDEAVOUR was leading EDALGO as they approached the finish of the second race, but apparently urged on by spectators off the St Kilda Pier, the skipper Graeme Drane luffed ENDEAVOUR into the wind to allow EDALGO through to win the heat. In this way EDALGO then clinched the title with one race to sail, ensuring Victoria would win only its second ever Forster Cup, which had been dominated by Tasmanian wins up to that point. ENDEAVOUR was sent to the Sydney series in 1954, and again sailed on Port Phillip in the 1955 series, the last for the class.

Otto Meik purchased a number of 21s in the late 50s to establish a training class at the club, and ENDEAVOUR was one of the boats in the fleet. In May 1960 it was bought from the club by Jack Balmain who converted it to a stem head Bermudan sloop rig. It was very successful under this rig in club and state races during the 1960s. Balmain sold the yacht to Goolwa based enthusiast Jock Veenstra in April 1981 where it joined the growing fleet of 21s at the Goolwa Regatta Yacht Club.

Veenstra sailed it until 1986, when a deal was done at a friend's barbeque and it was sold to the current owner. He spent a year rebuilding the yacht, replacing one third of the frames, the decking, and adding new rigging and a new mast. It then traveled to Victoria with the DOLPHIN and ALTAIR, where the three vessels competed in the 1988 Bicentennial Race at Albert Park. When Ballarat hosted the Restricted 21s on Lake Wendouree from 1991 to 2002 ENDEAVOUR was the first South Australian 21 to win against the Victorians in 1994. Between 1988 and 1995 ENDEAVOUR has sailed in all the races organised by the Vintage Boat Club & Goolwa Regatta Yacht Club, which has become home for many of the historic 21s.

ENDEAVOUR has since been modernized further with the standard aluminum spar and short bowsprit Bermudan sloop rig used by most of the 21s now racing in Goolwa in 2011.

SignificanceENDEAVOUR is an example of the 21 Foot Restricted Class of yachts that was built in 1947 by JJ Savage at Williamstown in Victoria. The 21s were the major class for Interstate racing through the Forster Cup from 1922 to 1955. ENDEAVOUR was one of the last 21s to be built, and was funded by a syndicate from the Royal St. Kilda Yacht Club, returning to an earlier tradition within the class where many of the yachts were sponsored by club members. It represented Victoria in the Forster Cup series on four occasions.

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