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3:04 PM Fri 6 Feb 2009 GMT
The famous little ocean racing yacht Plum Crazy and her owner/skipper 'Tig' Thomas have returned to Hobart for the first time since her illustrious Sydney Hobart race in 1975.
'The Plum' as she is affectionately known, is berthed in Hobart's historic Constitution Dock for the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, a spectacular four-day celebration of maritime culture and craftsmanship that opened today with a parade of sail up the Derwent River.
Thomas, a past Commodore of Middle Harbour Yacht Club, sailed Plum Crazy from Sydney to Hobart with a crew of three others, Rob Ogilvie, John Howard and John Taylor.
'We took ten days for the cruise south, a bit slower than the 1975 Sydney Hobart when she set the still standing fastest time for a yacht under 9.5m LOA,' Thomas said today, proudly wearing the distinctive purple t-shirts that have distinguished the crew of 'The Plum.'
'This time we overnighted at Ulladulla, Bermagui and Triabunna.the strongest wind we experienced was 30 knots,' he added.
Plum Crazy was built in 1971 by Douglas Brooker Custom Yachts for 'Tig' Thomas and Max Bowen, with credit for the design being shared by Bob Miller (Ben Lexcen) and Joe Adams. She is a medium displacement yacht with a fin keel and separate rudder behind a full skeg.
The ?' cold moulded Oregon skin is on 1 ?' square laminated Queensland Maple frames which are 13' centres. The backbone is laminated Queensland Maple, and the deck is Mahogany plywood sheathed with a deck beam on each frame.
As a wooden boat she is sharing the spotlight with wooden craft that range from models to tall ships, rowing dinghies to runaboats and river cruisers. In total there are some wooden 550 vessels congregated around Sullivan's Cove for the eighth Wooden Boat Festival.
Plum Crazy was launched just 10 days before the 1971 Sydney Hobart and caused a sensation by leading American Jim Kilroy's maxi yacht Kialoa II in the race to the Heads. She went on to win Division 2B in that race, in what was an auspicious beginning to a distinguished racing career.
She has held since 1975 the Sydney Hobart Race record for a yacht less than 9.5m LOA of 4 days, 1 hour, 18 minutes and 16 seconds. That same year, Kialoa III set the overall race record that was to stand for 21 years.
Owner/skipper 'Tig' Thomas sold Plum Crazy several years later, but in 2006 he was able to buy back the little yacht from John and Rosemary Howard who had owned her since 1994. For the original owner this was a great celebration of his 80th birthday.
John Howard has joined 'Tig' for the intrepid voyage to Hobart and return.
Adding to the maritime atmosphere in Hobart this weekend, in port also are the huge cruise liner Millennium, the Navy's HMAS Stuart and the restored iron-hulled bark James Craig.
Tomorrow morning 24 yachts will set sail from nearby Castray Esplanade in the 89 nautical mile Bruny Island Race, Australia's oldest offshore/inshore race first held in 1898, and Monday is Hobart Regatta Day, another event that backs well over a century and a half.
From Peter Campbell - 0419 385028 or email -[email protected]
by Peter Campbell
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Sailing
