Peter Cowie's Cutty Sark, a 14-footer in the late 1890's when the class was at its peak on Sydney Harbour. The 14's were unrestricted and carried all of the sails the larger classes did. Photo Cowie family archives.
The 14-footer class existed before the 18-footers. The story of their early evolution is covered in The Open Boat book (see the BOOKS Page), but in short they began in the 1880’s as canvas boats sailed by youths. The boats were mostly amateur built with cheap pine planks over steam-bent ribs, the planks not touching each other. The hull was waterproofed by covering it with heavy canvas (tarpaulins stolen from wharves were a popular choice) and painting it, generally in red-brown colours to resemble wood. As the fleet grew and became more competitive, professional builders began to get involved and the gaps became closer to the point where some builders began to build regular wooden boats with batten seam carvel construction like the other classes (16’s, 20’s, 22’s and 24’s at the time). About the same time (around 1890) the age limit was raised and eventually removed). The problem for these heavier more expensive boats was that many of the amateur-built canvas boats were faster, largely because of their lightness, even though this meant they were more fragile and shorter-lived. The wooden dinghy owners (14’s were always referred to as dinghies, never as skiffs) succeeded in having regatta committees schedule separate races for canvas and wooden dinghies, and eventually started their own club, the Sydney Dinghy Club, which became quite popular but faded away after a decade or so.
The 14’s were part of the trend in the larger classes in the late 1880’s and early 1890’s to become beamier and carry more sail and the hulls developed more deadrise, more of a V-shape in section. Originally decks were not allowed but around 1890 this requirement was dropped and the boats became unrestricted other than for length. They began to carry all of the extra sails that the larger classes carried including tops’ls, squares’ls, and ringtails. Eventually spinnakers replaced the squares’ls but the spinnakers at first still carried a short horizontal yard at the head like those in the bigger classes.
Violet with everything up. This was rising superstar Chris Webb's* own boat, possibly the only boat he ever owned. John Stanley collection.
Many names that became famous in later classes passed through the 14’dinghy class, including Chris Webb, Billy Read, Peter Cowie and especially Billy and Charlie Dunn, who as boatbuilders and sailors were pre-eminent in the class in both fields. The class spread to Brisbane and Perth like the 10-footers had, and the 18’s did in the late 1890’s, and even to Melbourne and Adelaide, which hadn’t happened with the other open boat classes.
Clio, built and sailed by Billy and Charlie Dunn*in the 1890's on Sydney Harbour. Charlie was active in designing, building and sailing 14's up until 1914. Photo Hall Collection ANMM.
14-footer Marjorie on Sydney Harbour in the 1890's. Not much is known about her. Photo Hall Collection ANMM.
A group of 14-footers began racing on Botany Bay in the late 1880’s with some locally-built boats and some purchased from the Sydney fleet. By the early 1900’s this fleet run by the St George Sailing Club had grown and the Sydney fleet had shrunk, most of the boats going to Botany Bay. I can’t find the date of the last race on Sydney Harbour but it was in the first few years of the 20th Century. Perhaps the growing fleet of 18-footers and the new class of restricted 16-footers contributed to this decline on Sydney Harbour. Charlie Dunn remained active in the class as a builder and sailor at least up until 1914.
Left: St George, a leading boat in the Botany Bay fleet from St George Sailing Club. The 14's had their heyday on Botany Bay in the first 15 years of the 20th Century after declining on Sydney Harbour.
Below: Charlie Dunn-built Air Motor was referred to as "the Botany Bay crack". Both photos courtesy of Steve Kavanagh.
Below: Charlie Dunn-built Air Motor was referred to as "the Botany Bay crack". Both photos courtesy of Steve Kavanagh.
The St George fleet continued to race up until the First World War. When sailing resumed the 16-foot skiffs had replaced the 14’s as the dominant class, and St George is still strong in 16’s in the 21st Century. Adelaide and Melbourne kept racing 14’s at least into the 1950’s, but the boats had evolved and had little resemblance to the turn of the century boats. The Adelaide and Melbourne fleets had begun experimenting in the early years of the century, building lighter boats and introducing snub-nosed boats. In the last few interstate races held before the First World War the older-style boats from the St George Club were generally outclassed, which probably contributed to their demise in NSW.
14-Footer Violet II
Violet II was the most successful 14-footer ever, winning the Interstate (Australian ) Championship 5 times between 1905 and 1914, and being runner-up once, in 7 entries.
Brisbane 14-Footer Violet II in Sydney for the Interstate Championship in 1909.
Violet II was built in 1904 by Wynnum (Brisbane) boatbuilder Charlie Crouch for businessman HA Chapman to replace his earlier build Violet (I) of 1898, also a successful boat, winning 38 races out of 69 starts. Charlie Crouch skippered the boat for Chapman, and this continued with Violet II. In their first season they won 8 times out of 18 starts, were second 6 times. In scratch races they won 6 times out of 13 starts with 4 second places, and the wins included their first Interstate Championship in January 1905 in Sydney. Against boats from NSW (mostly from the St George Club) and Brisbane and the Rene rom Western Australia (which was sold and remained in Sydney).
Violet II was said to be like its predecessor, but with finer lines and a bigger flare in the bow, and a hollow heel instead of an added deadwood heel. Measurements were 14’ by 6’8” beam, depth at bow 2’2”, midships 1’11”, stern 2’2” and 6’ across the tuck. The mast was 22’6”, boom 22’, gaff 14’ and bumpkin 15’.
Violet II was said to be like its predecessor, but with finer lines and a bigger flare in the bow, and a hollow heel instead of an added deadwood heel. Measurements were 14’ by 6’8” beam, depth at bow 2’2”, midships 1’11”, stern 2’2” and 6’ across the tuck. The mast was 22’6”, boom 22’, gaff 14’ and bumpkin 15’.
Violet II on Sydney Harbour in 1909 during the Interstate Championship, in which they were runners-up. From a postcard collected by Graeme Ferguson.
In their second season they won the Queensland Championship and the Interstate Championship on the Brisbane River, and backed up again to win a third Interstate Championship in a row in Sydney in February 1907 in a field of 17 starters. The following year in Brisbane they were beaten by a new Brisbane boat Volant, and were also runner-up the following year in Sydney (see photo above) to a new Perth boat Elma.
The Interstate Championship was held on Sydney Harbour when it was NSW turn to host, but by the time we’re covering the NSW fleet was almost exclusively racing on Botany Bay out of the St George Sailing Club. This postcard had boat names on the reverse: from left St George, Jessie, Etna, Rene, Euchre and Irene.
In the 1910/11 season the Championship was again in Brisbane, and the new Botany Bay boat Sydney was taken up by H Collis to represent NSW, but Violet II and Charlie Crouch won it again. Another Queensland boat Ida actually crossed the line first but was disqualified for being over the line at the start.
Up to this point they had won 54 times in 131 races, with twenty-eight 2nds and thirteen 3rds. In scratch races they had won 23 out of 31 starts with six 2nds.
Violet II was then retired and sat in the shed for several seasons before being brought out to contest the Interstate Championship one more time in January 1914 which Charlie Crouch won again. The boat then appeared in Brisbane River races under Norm Wright for the rest of that season and in the 1914/15 season. Charlie Crouch however was brought out to contest the 1915 Interstates, which had been changed from a single race to 3 heats, but they did not feature other than a 3rd in one heat. Charlie Crouch was apparently unwell for some time, and this may have affected his performance. He died of Peritonitis complications during an appendectomy in September 1915 aged 40. The boat did not race again, and in fact the Brisbane 14-footer fleet which had been getting smaller for several seasons ceased racing.
Up to this point they had won 54 times in 131 races, with twenty-eight 2nds and thirteen 3rds. In scratch races they had won 23 out of 31 starts with six 2nds.
Violet II was then retired and sat in the shed for several seasons before being brought out to contest the Interstate Championship one more time in January 1914 which Charlie Crouch won again. The boat then appeared in Brisbane River races under Norm Wright for the rest of that season and in the 1914/15 season. Charlie Crouch however was brought out to contest the 1915 Interstates, which had been changed from a single race to 3 heats, but they did not feature other than a 3rd in one heat. Charlie Crouch was apparently unwell for some time, and this may have affected his performance. He died of Peritonitis complications during an appendectomy in September 1915 aged 40. The boat did not race again, and in fact the Brisbane 14-footer fleet which had been getting smaller for several seasons ceased racing.
Unidentified 14-footers on Sydney Harbour. Hall Collection ANMM.
More 14-footers on Sydney Harbour, from the Hall Collection, ANMM. According to the previous postcard image from Botany Bay, the boat on the left is Jessie.