Dimensions: A2 size. 594mm x 420mm

The inaugural Australian Wooden Boat Festival was held in November 1994 by boating enthusiasts and friends, Cathy Hawkins, Ian Johnston and Andy Gamlin. The event followed Andy’s visit to Brest in Brittany a few years earlier, and was made possible thanks to financial assistance from the Tasmanian State Government and sponsors Hobart Marine Board, Hobart City Council, RACT Insurance, Risby’s Timber, Holymans, Spirit of Tasmania and ABC radio.

Held over just two days, the Festival attracted enormous crowds and featured a very successful food component, a French frigate that transported a canoe from Isle de Pins (New Caledonia) and the HM Bark Endeavour Replica on her maiden voyage from Perth, WA. Celebrated under a warm, clear, summer sky—perfectly complimenting the 180 beautiful wooden boats in Constitution Dock—the festival, with its music, dance and nautical demonstrations, was declared an outstanding success.