The smallest yacht in the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race was a restored 1932 classic from Australia. Crosbie Lorimer finds out more about MalukaOne thing you should do is take your watch off. If you start looking at your watch you\u2019re going to do your head in!\u201d said Sean Langman, owner and skipper of the diminutive 91-year-old Maluka. He\u2019d been asked, just days prior to competing in the 50th edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race, how best to approach an ocean race in a boat of this nature.
\nLangman, who still races Sydney Harbour 18ft Skiffs and has competed in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race in supermaxis, knows better than most the importance of changing mindset when switching from super fast grand prix yachts to a gaff-rigged classic.
\n\u201cThe goal is to just keep her trundling along. Don\u2019t try and sail too high, just keep getting water under the keel and staying on a making leg,\u201d he says about racing Maluka, which typically sails at much the same speed upwind as downwind.
\nAs the smallest yacht in the 2023 race at 30ft (9.01m) \u2013 and indeed the oldest boat to complete this famous ocean race \u2013 Maluka boxed well above her weight, dealing handsomely under two reefs and a staysail with the first day\u2019s brutal upwind conditions and going on to win IRC Division 4B.
\nMaluka\u2019s pace is modest at best, and when Langman answered a journalist\u2019s question some years ago on how she\u2019d sail when up against a super maxi like Wild Oats XI, he answered: \u201cWe can go about five to six knots into the wind, whereas a boat like Wild Oats XI may do 10 or 11 knots. With the wind behind us we may still do about five knots, yet they may be doing 25 knots!\u201d
\nMaluka was built in 1932 for the Clark brothers, wealthy graziers from New South Wales, who used her to cruise Australian waters extensively. They enjoyed many adventures, including a successful voyage from Sydney to Hobart (after an earlier attempt saw them being blown onto rocks), some 10 years before that challenging passage became today\u2019s renowned race.
\nMaluka competing in the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
\nAn emotional attachment
\nThe yacht was conceptualised by amateur yacht designer Cliff Gale, assisted by naval architect AC \u2018Archie\u2019 Barber. He was also the designer of Rani, the first winner of the Sydney Hobart race in 1945, and \u2018the unsung hero of Australian yacht design\u2019, according to Langman.
\nMaluka\u2019s distinctive raised deck design and robust construction in Tasmanian Huon pine led to a series of similar designs during the 1930s, collectively known as the Ranger class. A number of these still race regularly on Sydney Harbour.
\nFor Langman there is a strong emotional tie to this class, as his father owned a Ranger called Vagrant, built a year after Maluka, which he sold when Langman was 12.
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\u201cI cried for a month and said I\u2019d get it back one day,\u201d said Langman. At the age of 30 he did just that, and restored her to her former glory. Vagrant still sits on a mooring off Langman\u2019s Noakes Boatyard in Sydney.
\n\u201cI look at her and say to myself: that\u2019s all I really need. The other 37 boats I\u2019ve had probably were a mistake!\u201d, says Langman with a laugh.
\nMaluka was in a sorry state when Langman purchased her in 2005, subsequently restoring her from top to bottom with the team at his yard, over an estimated 10,000 hours.
\nThe planking and decking were kept and reused, but to meet the stringent American Bureau of Shipping scantlings that Langman wanted to achieve for racing the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, he tasked renowned naval architect Andy Dovell with the required engineering.
\nThe cockpit was too large and deep, so the raised deck was extended one frame further aft and the cockpit sole was raised, resulting in one unplanned upside,
\n\u201cIt opened up these massive aft bunks \u2013 just glorious\u201d says Langman with a big smile. \u201cIt\u2019s now got a 9ft long quarter berth with a very thick cushion. And I bought new pillows!
\n\u201cThe rule actually pushed the boat into a place to make it much better. She\u2019s a little truck now, she\u2019s very strong.\u201d
\nSean Langman (left) and some of his crew shortly before this year\u2019s Rolex Fastnet Race start. Photo: Crosbie Lorimer
\nLangman\u2019s commitment to the traditions of classic yacht building is also matched by a practical approach to the use of contemporary design elements which make the boat more user-friendly and comfortable to race.
\nNotable among these additions is the recent replacement of the boat\u2019s engine with a lighter and smaller Nanni 3.8 diesel engine. The mainsail sheet now has a winch pedestal, while the sails and rigging have been redesigned to allow a more effective combination of headsail and spinnakers. A babystay allows her to be sailed triple-headed.
\nThe wood-like painted spars disguise a carbon fibre mast and an aluminium boom. Note the winches and cleats at the mast for the main halyard and reefs. Photo: Crosbie Lorimer
\nThe Doyles\/McDiarmid sail wardrobe is modern in its intent too, with three downwind sails comprised of a Code 0, an asymmetrical and symmetrical spinnaker. Headsails include a yankee, working jib set on the end of the bowsprit, staysail and storm jib.
\nAlthough none of these contemporary additions seem to impinge in any way on Maluka\u2019s classic looks, there are some aspects of a boat of this vintage that simply can\u2019t be updated.
\n\u201cYou know you\u2019re sailing when you\u2019ve got to put a block and tackle on the tiller to change direction in heavier airs. not because it\u2019s got weather helm, but because there\u2019s no balance in the rudder,\u201d says Langman.
\nOriginal charm
\nWith the exception of the necessary modern navigational equipment and instruments, Maluka\u2019s interior retains its original character too. Traditional lanterns, a brass-cased barometer, hardwood timber cabinets, various race winning plaques, a white-painted, planked timber deckhead and round portholes all lend Maluka\u2019s cabin the air of a reassuring and cosy retreat when the conditions get challenging on deck.
\nRORC worked with the Maluka team to consider if the jib set at the end of the bowsprit could be considered a flying jib (as per traditional working boats). In the end it was deemed a working jib. Photo: Crosbie Lorimer
\nThe only practical way for Maluka to be transported to Europe for the Rolex Fastnet Race was aboard a ship that was carrying two New Zealand Navy vessels being sold to the Irish government and delivered to Cork. The result was that Maluka sailed a large part of the Fastnet Race course in reverse to reach the Solent from the south coast of Ireland a week before the race.
\nLangman said they drew a number of helpful lessons from that journey, but the most significant learning for the skipper was: \u201cIt\u2019s perfect for small draughted boats in this part of the world. There are many beautiful rivers and they all have beautiful English pubs. I\u2019ve had a great time!\u201d
\nThe eclectic selection of acquisitions in the cabin \u2013 including mounted postcards from Maluka\u2019s delivery journey up England\u2019s west coast \u2013 add colour to her traditional interior. Photo: Crosbie Lorimer
\nA cruise to Iceland is also on the cards. So it\u2019ll be a while before Maluka is back in Australian waters.
\nWhen asked why, having competed in fast yachts for years, he has returned to racing a classic yacht, Langman turns philosophical for a moment.
\n\u201cI think a lot of what it\u2019s about is the inner child. It\u2019s where you started and for me this is where I cut my teeth, sailing these boats with my dad. It\u2019s gold! Pure joy, that\u2019s what it\u2019s about.\u201d
\nA shot from Maulka\u2019s past. Photo: Australian National Maritime Museum Collection
\nThe history of Maluka
\nMaluka was built in 1932 for bachelor brothers, William and George Clark, who wanted to enjoy their retirement from farming. After first using her to potter and fish round Sydney Harbour they started to plan more adventurous cruises. One early photo shows her in an idyllic anchorage up the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney.
\nIn 1933, they spent five months sailing to North Queensland, encountering heavy weather that proved Maluka\u2019s seaworthiness and gave them confidence to go even further. So in 1934 they sailed to the remote Lord Howe island in the Tasman Sea.
\nTheir third voyage didn\u2019t go well. While sailing south of Eden after Christmas in 1935, they encountered a southerly gale. The three crew hove to for days, eventually lashing the tiller so they could go below and rest.
\nWhat they didn\u2019t realise is that the strong current had been sweeping them south along the coast of Victoria and in the early hours they grounded off Cape Conran.
\nA series of waves pushed them higher over the rocks until Maluka came to rest, high and dry, on her starboard side, clear of the waves and with relatively little damage.
\nMaluka specifications
\nLOA: 9.01m \/ 30ft 0in
\nBeam: 3.18m \/ 10ft 5in
\nDraught: 1.71m \/ 5ft 7in
\nMast height: 9.10m \/ 30ft
\nDisplacement: 7.5t \/ 16,535lb
\nMainsail: 46m2 \/ 495ft2
\nDownwind sail area: 130m2 \/ 1,400ft2
\nUpwind sail area: 69m2 \/ 742ft2
\nIRC Rating: 0.868<\/p>\n
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The smallest yacht in the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race was a restored 1932 classic from Australia. Crosbie Lorimer finds out more about MalukaOne thing you should do is take your watch off. If you start looking at your watch you\u2019re … <\/p>\n