The H28 is a veteran of some 70 years on the Swan River in Perth, West Australia.
The Herreshoff 28 story began when a noted yacht designer, LF Herreshoff, was asked to design a yacht for the sailor that couldn't take months off at a time to sail where ever his whims took him. The design was then serialized in the "Rudder" magazine of 1943 and his design, the H28 {a ketch rig} was picked up by men returning home from the second world war and the race was on to build the first boat in Australia.
As far as it is able to be determined, the first Australian H28 was Marloo, built in Victoria and the second Australian H28 was Saga built in Cottesloe, a local suburb of Perth by RE Johansen in 1947. A couple of years after the ketch rig was designed, a sloop rig plan fell off the design boards of LF Herreshoff and made its way over to Perth and the first Bermudian rig H28 was built in 1947/8, again by Johansen and she was named "Nova" and went on to become one of the well known performers on the river.
The sloop rig became the favoured version on the river, though there were notable exceptions, and the sloop rig was built by home builders and boat yards for the next 20 odd years as the H28 was seen as the boat of choice on the Swan. Notable on the Swan river yachts is the tabernacle that allows the mast to be lowered to pass the boat under the bridges at Fremantle, the other distinctive feature is the forward spreaders and jumpers above the jib hoist. Originally they were there to stiffen the last 6 feet of the box section wooden masts as they took the load from the spinnakers that were flown from the top of the mast. New and better building materials obviated the need to use the jumpers, but tradition has kept them there.
As far as it is able to be determined, the first Australian H28 was Marloo, built in Victoria and the second Australian H28 was Saga built in Cottesloe, a local suburb of Perth by RE Johansen in 1947. A couple of years after the ketch rig was designed, a sloop rig plan fell off the design boards of LF Herreshoff and made its way over to Perth and the first Bermudian rig H28 was built in 1947/8, again by Johansen and she was named "Nova" and went on to become one of the well known performers on the river.
The sloop rig became the favoured version on the river, though there were notable exceptions, and the sloop rig was built by home builders and boat yards for the next 20 odd years as the H28 was seen as the boat of choice on the Swan. Notable on the Swan river yachts is the tabernacle that allows the mast to be lowered to pass the boat under the bridges at Fremantle, the other distinctive feature is the forward spreaders and jumpers above the jib hoist. Originally they were there to stiffen the last 6 feet of the box section wooden masts as they took the load from the spinnakers that were flown from the top of the mast. New and better building materials obviated the need to use the jumpers, but tradition has kept them there.
Useful links to other sites:
SoPYC
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Weather
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Rick Steuart
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What's New?
A video from 1991 showing off the H28 fleet and the club. Settle down with a cup of tea it's a long one. |