BOAT owners and their crews are flat out preparing their keelboats for the sailing season opening on October 17 on Batemans Bay.
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Amid the rush, it was noticed that a veteran vessel in the Batemans Bay Sailing Club fleet - Leda II, owned by John Boyes - was in danger of sinking at her mooring.
The cabin roof was holed and she had been taking in water.
On Friday, Leda II was lifted out of the water and taken to a property near Moruya for restoration works.
Leda II, a Laurent Giles 8.5-metre built in 1959 in Mordialloc, Victoria, sports a huon pine hull, a mahogany deck and a cedar coach house.
She was raced out of Sandringham Yacht Club until Boyes bought her in 1998.
The Giles design is typical of her time with a long keel, graceful overhangs and a shallow draft of only 1.37m.
“Her displacement of 4.8 tonnes is two or three times that of a similar size contemporary racing yacht,” the club’s sailing manager, Lachlan Brown, said.
“The huon pine is irreplaceable but fortunately in good condition.
“Her restoration will take time and craftsmanship to accomplish.”
At the same time Accolade, an Adams 10.6 recently acquired by Brown, was weighed for measurement purposes.
She joins two sister ships in the club fleet, Wishful Thinking and Attitude. Accolade was built in 1997 at Lake Macquarie and hadn’t ventured far until this year.
The Adams 10.6 was designed in the 1980s for the two-handed Melbourne- Osaka race but it also proved to be an excellent cruiser racer.
On Friday, Accolade weighed in at 3.8 tonnes, a moderate displacement these days and her draught measured 1.9 metres.
There should be some close racing at the front of the club fleet this season between the three Adams 10.6 yachts and the Bakewell White 36, Apostrophe.
Other entrants to watch include North Shore 33 The Shed, which recently finished second in the North Shore Yachts Champion- ships on Lake Macquarie.
In the S80 fleet, Periwinkle has her mast and is set to go while Hotspur has been purchased by John Drummond from Sussex Inlet.
“John is looking for crew and plans to continue her racing career with Batemans Bay SC,” Brown said.
The keelboat racing season starts with an evening race on the Clyde River on October 17, and the Bay Cup race starts at 2pm on October 18.
As always, new sailors are welcome.
Check the BBSC website www.bbsc.org.au.
