The 2019 Australian Wooden Boat Festival was held in February in Hobart, Tasmania. A fabulous event, it was blessed with clement weather (well it is pretty close to Antarctica…), with plenty of activity around Constitution Dock and the waterfront in general. Wooden boats, large and small, came from all over Australia to be there and enjoy the Tasmanian hospitality along with the plethora of entertainment, good food and wine.
My star of the show was Mistral II, the classic 64 foot two masted schooner built in 1922 in North Sydney by W. Ford for the then Commodore of the Sydney Yacht Club. One of the nine yachts that completed the first Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the beautiful New Zealand kauri planked hull is to be restored in time for its Centenary.
Mistral II
