Photos from Goolwa Wooden Boat Show 2011 - looking forward to 2013!

I had a display at the Goolwa Wooden Boat Show in conjunction with Duck Flat and Boatcraft Pacific. It was truly excellent and we are all looking forward to the next show in 2013

Goolwa Wooden Boat Festival

Duckflat are the agents for my boat plans and Boatcraft sell my plan books. We work together – they both sell plywood and epoxy and I help Duckflat with their Boatbuilding classes twice a year (usually).

We took everything down to Goolwa on the Friday and then arrived early on Saturday to set up.

It is a truly great show because so much can happen on the water. So there is a chance to see boats in action several times a day, from “Restricted 21s” (a hot racing class from the early 1900s), to wooden hydroplanes, to small dinghies and Putt Putts.

This year the show was free – which meant both a good crowd, but also a large number of people who may not have considered building or owning a wooden boat before. Very good for business

I had the Quick Canoe and two Eureka Canoes, one fitted with the Drop in Sailing rig. Also the yellow OzRacer/PDRacer.

Behind me is Pat, the owner of Duck Flat. Duckflat is doing very well, with several large projects and also continues all the normal services and sells my plans! You don’t get to see many pics of me on the net – for obvious reasons!

This is the “Oscar W” one of the Murray River Paddlesteamers that has been restored. You can pay to go on a trip. There are more pics of the Oscar W in the slideshow below.

IONE was built in 1888 in New Zealand. She was brought over here and now lives on the Murray River. Lots of nice detail on this boat.

These three boats are from Duck Flat. The outer boat is a Tennessee, designed by Phil Bolger with slightly more elaborate cabin (kept very light), the middle boat is a Mundoo 2, which has slightly more beam for a little bit more accommodation. The closest boat is the famous solar powered Mundoo 3 “Nomad”. You can see an article I wrote about it by clicking the link.

A few shots from the general show. Riverboats, launches, putt putts, Hartley 16s – all in wood. The great thing, as I said, is that this is an on the water show – so you can see all the boats being used for racing, camping overnight, parading. A unique show.

Plywood hydroplanes made several high speed passes. This is a sistership to the famous Ernie Nunn’s Wasp 2. This boat still holds records in its class that have never been broken – consider that they were set about 40 years ago. Engine was dyno tested to find it produced well over 600hp.

A classic “restricted 21” gets a puff as it goes through under the bridge. There is a very tweaked up fleet of these in Goolwa. They are racing yachts from the very early 1900s. A restricted class that gives a lot of options for design – mostly based on a LOT of sail.

More “Restricted 21s” just after finishing one of the racea – they come in very close to the wharf at times. The red boat is owned by Randal Cooper – the gun helmsman. He also works as a rigger/mastmaker in Goolwa.

Peter Shipside’s Green NIS23 (Norwalk Island Sharpie 23) comes under the Hindmarsh Island bridge at a pace. I designed a slightly lower centreboard case for this boat that improves the interior.