LILY GUY, drifting on Port Phillip waiting for the wind to come in for its race.

Images(3)

Lily Guy

Vessel numberHV000543

Builder C Blunt

Date1895

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 7.92 m x 7.92 m x 2.44 m x 0.91 m, 3 tonnes (26 ft x 26 ft x 8 ft x 3 ft, 2.95 tons)

DescriptionLILY GUY is 7.92m (26 foot) long, and the top four stakes are clinker planked while the remainder of the hull is carvel. It is planked in New Zealand kauri over mirboo ribs and has a solid one-piece jarrah keel. A previous owner, Charlie Lamont (b. 1923) knew that the builder was Charles Blunt in 1895. Blunt was a well-known builder on Port Phillip, and three generations of his family have been boatbuilders all working out of the yard in Williamstown. The double ended hull shape and oval cockpit are both features that were typical of net boats, allowing them to easily set and retrieve their fishing nets without them getting caught on corners of the hull or cockpit. They also had a sailing rig, however the gaff rig now on LILY GUY was probably originally a lug rig as they were common in the 1890s on the couta boats, a close relation to the net boat.

Lamont bought the boat in 1952/53 from Sutton Lingford. Lingford worked for Roche Brothers and was regular at the Victoria Hotel in Geelong. Lamont had the boat registered with the Western Beach Boat Club, Corio (WB15). It was not rigged for sailing but had a canopy and the hull was painted dark green. He would fish Corio Bay every weekend with a mate, but when his friend passed away Lamont stopped using it and the craft deteriorated in Corio Bay until it was sold to a new owner. He pulled it out of the bay around 2003 and repaired the hull. A rig and motor were installed as well.

The current owner has continued to work on the boat with repairs and improvements. It has a new engine, better mast step and adjustments to the rig. A new mast is also intended to be added when time permits. The boat had no name, so the current owner has named it after his grandmother.

SignificanceLILY GUY is a Port Phillip net boat built in 1895 by Charles Blunt. A small number of the net boats from Port Phillip have survived and this is one of the earliest examples. It features the combination of clinker topsides and carvel planked underside, and the traditional double-ended hull form.