Australian Wooden Boat Festival

From its relatively modest beginnings in 1994, the Australian Wooden Boat Festival has grown into the largest maritime event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

Event organisers have flagged a bumper turnout for the 10th festival (now called the MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival) gracing Hobart’s magnificent harbour and waterfront today till Sunday (February 8-11, 2013).

The MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival is a boat-builder's delight with many craftsmen on hand to demonstrate and discuss their skills. High-quality craftsmanship is the focus of Tasmania’s wooden boat-building industry and this is reflected in the festival.

For those with an interest in working with timber, the unique Tasmanian boatbuilding timbers include the legendary Huon Pine, King Billy Pine, Celery Top and Tasmanian Blue Gum. Boat builders who use timber of this quality and scarcity describe it as ‘a cherished privilege’ and they love to showcase their finished results. These exquisite timbers will feature in either ‘works-in-progress’ or beautifully finished vessels of all shapes and sizes lovingly displayed at the festival.

The Festival Director for the 2013 event, Mr Paul Cullen, said all aspects of wooden boats and maritime heritage are now featured, from working boat builders demonstrating their craft to water-based events, entertainment with a nautical theme and culinary delights focused on the harvest of the sea.

"It is inspiring to see seasoned boat builders and old seafarers passing on their skills and passions to younger enthusiasts," Paul said.

"And it is a real crowd pleaser seeing wooden boats still working in Tasmania’s fishing fleet, offloading their catch and then watching chefs turning our seafood delicacies into meals that can be enjoyed dock-side during the festival."

The Australian Wooden Boat Festival not only features some classic boats of yesteryear but is also a showcase of all that is currently available for the boating enthusiast.

Being an island state, Tasmania has always relied on the craftsmen who designed, built, maintained and used wooden boats. There is still a thriving wooden boat industry in Tasmania today.

Paul Cullen said that from the modest beginnings, the Australian Wooden Boat Festival has grown significantly.

"As the festival grew, so too did its reputation with almost half those attending now coming from interstate or overseas.

"More recently an ‘open-gated model’ (ie free admission) has seen the event grow so that it now occupies the entire Sullivan's Cove precinct with continuous entertaining and educational activities occurring both on the harbour and ashore.

“Now we can look forward to many more years of the pre-eminent festival of its type in the Southern Hemisphere and arguably second only to the Brest festival in international standing,” Paul said.