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Vivienne Marie

Vessel numberHV000818

Builder Hald & Johansen

Designer Hald & Johansen

Date1965

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 7.92 m × 7.92 m × 1.83 m, 3.2 tonnes (26 ft × 26 ft × 6 ft, 3.15 tons)

DescriptionVivienne Marie is 26ft, 3.15 tons, wooden yacht built in Sydney in 1965. It was built by Danish shipwrights Hald & Johansen and is an example of the Nordic Folkboat, a popular design worldwide which also found a market in Sydney and allowed a number of people to own a family cruising and racing yacht. It was commissioned by five members of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (RSYS), Reg Hession, Neville and Clive Cox, Richard Newman and Graeme Anderson, and originally named Karrawingi after a 1946 children’s book. They were seeking a vessel with a very generous cockpit, as they all enjoyed sailing together. Hald & Johansen were best known for the Folkboats, and Vivienne Marie was one of the nineteen they built, their first TUP (HV000717) in 1961.

Anders Johansen arrived in Sydney in 1960 and began working at the Lars Halvorsen Sons yard. While working on FREYA Lloyd Burgess asked him to build the Folkboat. Johansen left the yard and set up his own business with TUP (HV000717) as the first yacht project, and he was soon joined by his uncle John Hald. Hald and Johansen were recognised not only for their Folkboats but other yachts that are still on Sydney Harbour including MORAG BHEAG which is still raced regularly. They did not stay long in Smithfield and moved their yard to the coast setting up in Dee Why. Their last yacht in early 1968 was the Alan Payne designed 5.5m yacht KAREELAH for Russell Slade, after which they closed the partnership and Johansen returned to Demark and continued boatbuilding there.

Vivienne Marie’s clinker planked hull is built of Huon pine upon spotted gum ribbing, the run of the planking showing off the even and elegant lines of the craft. Unlike earlier folkboats it was designed with a raised doghouse to allow for increased headroom. Its rigging was slightly different also, designed by Peter Cole. Its full length keel features a lead boot at its base. Vivienne Marie’s mast is made of aluminium, its boom of Oregon pine, and it is rigged as a Bermudan sloop. After completion, the hull was taken from Dee Why by road and launched at Rose Bay, and then towed to the RSYS for the stepping of its mast. The vessels components are predominantly original, with rigging replaced in 2017, and annual antifouling and engine servicing carried out.

Vivienne Marie in addition to similar craft such as TUP (HV000717) helped begin the folkboat class which later included the similar Stella Class, represented on the ARHV by ALANA (HV000650). The combined Folkboat/Stella class was a small but active class of racing yachts, especially in Sydney. It was ideally suited to the harbour, but capable of being cruised to Pittwater or south to Botany Bay, so it had wide appeal as a small craft, and easily handled. Many of the class are still sailing and the Folkboat developed its own fibreglass version that sold well for many years.

Vivienne Marie was raced and cruised for 27 years under its original shared ownership and sold in 1992 for the original cost, in dollar terms. As of 2021 Vivienne Marie continues to race in the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club’s Sunday Classic, and also cruises as part of the Pittwater Aquatic Club. It came first on handicap in the SASC Sunday classic in 2020, and was winner of the Joshua Slocum trophy in 2019.
SignificanceVivienne Marie is a 26ft Nordic Folkboat built in Sydney in 1962 for cruising and racing. It was built by Danish shipwrights Hald & Johansen in Dee Why, and features a distinctive clinker built hull, full length keel, and raised doghouse. Alongside the similar vessel TUP (HV000717) the folkboat class was ideally suited to Sydney Harbour, but capable of being cruised to Pittwater or south to Botany Bay, and it had wide appeal as a small craft, and easily handled. As of 2021 Vivienne Marie continues to race in the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club’s Sunday Classic, and also cruises as part of the Pittwater Aquatic Club. It came first on handicap in the SASC Sunday classic in 2020, and was winner of the Joshua Slocum trophy in 2019.