Barry Allison Sailing history.

I first started sailing in Heavyweights with John Blunden as for'd hand on MISS DIANNE around 1956. John bought her from Dick Cooper, who had bought INVADER from "Sport" McCrindle from the Frankston Y.C. in Victoria. MISS DIANNE had a heavy Aussie oak deck and I always remember John and I removing this heavy deck and replacing with marine ply during the winter. Not sure we sailed much better.

Then John bought a beautifully built Heavyweight from Queensland--BOOMERANG II. She was built of fantastic Queensland timbers and looked a real picture, but she did not sail that well, being overweight.

Chippy Barclay was building the first of many Lightweight Sharpies in the back of George Tilley's shed in Glenelg in those days, and John bought one of the first from Chippy. He named her MARILYN M and we sailed reasonably well over the next few years. Later John bought a second Barclay built lightweight and named her SATAN --SA13 and sailed her in the 1959-60 Championships at Glenelg. As for'd hand, I remember being pipped from making the team of 6 boats when beaten by one boat ( Ron Pascoe sailing MONOLON ) in the final elimination heats. We were not happy not making the team.

I had a stint in the Navy in 1962 and John carried on with other crew. In the 1963 season, I sailed for'd with several skippers-- three seasons with Arthur Shanks.
I crewed for Ross Eldridge aboard TERANG when we sailed in the first Sharpie Nationals in Sydney-- off Clifton Gardens. Back in Adelaide and at the Glenelg Sailing Club, I crewed for several other skippers, and moved away from the Sharpies to build and sail a Neil Cormack designed Moth. This was followed by an Arrow cat and then Yvonne Cats up until 1979 when I commenced building an Offshore Roberts 38 out of steel. Quite a project and we sailed her for the next 26 years.

I have always had a soft spot for Sharpies and in the mid 1990's, decided to buy an old Heavyweight to restore. There were none worth looking at around Adelaide, and so we decided to explore the country centres, where many of the hulls were sold. We came across one hull at Port Vincent named TURTLE , that none of us had ever heard of. We ventured up to Broken Hill, where many of the Adelaide boats were sold. We came across three hulls--two in very poor state, and one that was still sailing. The owners in Broken Hill used to fibre glass the outside of the hulls, and then leave the hulls out in the weather --you can imagine the condition of the timbers!!! We came across Ross Radcliff's hull SWIFT, and also a hull from the Brighton & Seacliff Club with a tree growing through the hull!!
I was fortunate to view and photograph RAGAMUFFIN when in a shed in our hills before she was taken across to Perth by her owners--fortunately to return a few years later and was grabbed by Chippy Barclay to restore. He and Paul Brooks spent many hours at Goolwa in restoration over several years and eventually shipped her across to the Axel Stenross Maritime Museum in Port Lincoln--why, not sure. MIRANDA III is also on display in this museum --I believe the last Heavyweight built in Adelaide from Meranti timber, and was skippered by Arthur Shanks when at the Somerton Yacht Club. Meanwhile, the week before I had planned to go overseas in 1993 with my wife, Don Donovan rang to ask whether I was interested in buying SEA ROVER. He had her stored in one of the sheds on the Port River that were about to be demolished and so had to move her. I obviously leapt at the opportunity and took her home , much to the "delight" of my wife.
So over the next twenty years or so, I completely restored the hull, re-decked her with Celery Top timber from Tasmania (that is another story in itself) and we sailed her on and off over twenty years--including having John Blunden up front at one of the Goolwa Wooden Boat Festivals. After the recent Port Adelaide Wooden Boat Festival in 2018 , we decided to sell her to a Queensland enthusiast.

. I now have an interest in getting another hull to work on -- Roly Tasker's FALCON III is lying at the side of a shed with a sheet of galvanised iron on top. The owner will not budge in any form of restoration. He also bought FALCON IV and dismantled completely so that she will never be restored. Also, Sir James Hardy's TINTARA is stored in the Maritime Museum here in Adelaide and is in very good condition. The problem is having Sir James to become involved and to support restoration. The only other Heavyweight that I know of is AERO once sailed by Laurie Deacon. The word is that she is at Goolwa somewhere being stored in a shed. I have spoken to Laurie's son, Roger, who does not know of her where-abouts. There are many old timber Lightweights around in sheds that are slowly disintegrating -- the fibreglass hulls are so much quicker. Why not introduce a division in the next National Sharpie Series for timber hulls? Would at least save some hulls from being totally lost.

Barry Allison.