Wooden boats power up in Geelong
The Wooden Boatshop and Yanmar team up to support Geelong festival.
The Geelong Wooden Boat Festival takes to the water this Labour Day long weekend in Victoria, sponsored by the Wooden Boatshop (WBS) and engine manufacturers Yanmar.
The biennial event, alternating with the Hobart Wooden Boat Festival, is a celebration of the history and traditions of wooden boat-building, both power and sail. This year, nearly 150 wooden boats ranging from dinghys to Tall Ships will be hosted by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club (RGYC) with a range of events including the Festival Wooden Boat Passage Race from Portarlington to Geelong, Classic Wooden Yacht Cup, Couta Boat Cup, a Modern Wooden Boat Race, the Oslo Cup and a Wooden Power Boat navigation rally.
The Wooden Boatshop and Yanmar engines (distributed by Power Equipment) have a long-standing partnership in wooden boat building dating back several decades. With facilities at Sorrento and Queenscliff, and a team of qualified shipwrights and trained technicians, WBS has been installing Yanmar engines in new boats and re-powers since well before Power Equipment was formed in 1990. From the early 70s, its iconic Couta Boats were almost exclusively powered by Yanmar engines.
“The GM/YM series were a quantum leap in technology beyond others available at the time,” said Wayne Parr of the Wooden Boatshop. “They had new technology, were of modern design, compact and light in weight – ideal for Couta boats.”
Hundreds of these trusty engines still ply Port Phillip and the partnerships between WBS, Yanmar and Power Equipment have established southern Port Phillip as ‘Yanmar territory’.
The JH series engines which followed were widely used in the WBS Nepean launches, while the Cheviot 32 launches, the ultimate day boats, were fitted with Yanmar 6LP or 6BY engines, known for being smooth, quiet and very fuel efficient. From this evolved the Efficient 44 powered by the 500hp Yanmar 6CX530 –the lightest engine in its horsepower range while still far exceeding future EPA requirements.
Most recently the classically styled Shearwater 38 launch has been fitted with the Yanmar 8LV370, with the latest Shearwater 38 nearing completion, Squally Cove, boasting the first Yanmar Common-Rail 6LY440 in Australia.
Yanmar repowers at Geelong
Among the many wooden boats featuring at the festival this weekend are some fine examples of the WBS-Yanmar partnership.
Patternmaker is a 40ft Adams-designed cutter-rigged boat. While the design dates from the 1980s, Stuart Dickson built the boat over 20 years and it was finally launched in 2011.
Named after his late father’s lifetime trade, Dickson says Patternmaker is “a serious ocean-going boat – taking you virtually anywhere on the planet if you wished”. While the original design did not have such a big engine, Dickson wanted more power plus reliability. After a lot of research and help from the Wooden Boatshop as to what the Adams 40 could accommodate, a 54hp Yanmar 4JH naturally aspirated diesel went in.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the Yanmar motor. It’s been fantastic,” he said.
The cutter Torea was designed by Charlie Peel and launched in Sydney in 1938. It is listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels (ARHV). Stephen Shanasy found Torea for sale in Sydney in 2004 and, with his son David, he journeyed north and on a short test sail through the Heads they “simply fell in love with it”.
Upon arrival at the Wooden Boatshop, Tim Phillips said simply, “that’s a beautiful boat”. Torea then spent 1,600 hours over 10 months in 2005 undergoing a refurbishment. It then made two return trips to Hobart for the Wooden Boat Show there (2009 and 2011) powered by the existing Yanmar 2QM15 (14hp circa 1978).
With several hundred hours clocked up, this engine was reliable but, before the third and most recent trip to Hobart, Torea returned to WBS to be fitted with a new Yanmar 3YM20 21hp engine.
“We immediately noticed the extra power which gave us better control of the boat, and the fuel usage is actually 50% less,” said Shanasy. “I wish I’d bought the new engine earlier - as much as the old engines are good, the new engines are fantastic – just outstanding.”
More information about the Geelong Wooden Boat Festival is on the website.
