James Craig is coming to town 2023!

Australia’s largest Tall Ship, the three-masted barque James Craig, will be voyaging from its home port of Sydney to Hobart for the Australian Wooden Boat Festival 2023. There will be the opportunity for passengers to join both the southbound and the return northbound voyages.

While in Hobart for the Festival, the James Craig be offering various cruises on the Derwent, including a cruise as part of the famous Parade of Sail opening event. The ship will also be open to festival goers and the public while alongside.

The James Craig was built as a general cargo ship, launched in 1874, to ply the trade routes of the world, rounding Cape Horn 23 times.

The Sydney Heritage Fleet, a community based non-profit volunteer organisation, rescued the James Craig from Recherche Bay in southern Tasmania in 1973 and she was towed to Hobart for temporary repairs, before being towed to Sydney in 1981 for her full restoration.

There are only four operational barques from the 19th century still sailing. The James Craig is the only one of these four to regularly carry members of the public to sea which she has been doing for over twenty years.

The Australian Wooden Boat Festival organisers are delighted to have the vessel returning to Tassie, and what a spectacle the Parade of Sail will be with several interstate Tall Ships joining our iconic Tasmanian Tall Ships and 300+ other wooden boats. Keep an eye on our Tall Ships 2023 page for tickets to get onboard!