Wooden Boat Festival sails into Geelong

THE biannual Wooden Boats Festival is returning to the Royal Geelong Yacht Club this long weekend.

About 80 wooden boats will take to the water on the Geelong Waterfront in this year’s event along with two tour ships, the Coral Tracker and Enterprise.

The vessels will race down from Portarlington on Saturday, arriving in Geelong between 2 and 2:30pm before the festival is officially opened.

Wooden Boat Festival chair Paul Buchholz said there will be a range of events taking place over the whole weekend.

“We’ve got boats that are racing, and also boats that are just coming down and that will be on display,” he said.

“People can walk around the yacht club, check these boats out, see them and what they look like and appreciate this type of boat.

“These boats are works of art basically and very, very well put together.

The wooden boats will be displayed on the hardstands, where some of the boat builders will be doing woodwork experiences, showing people what they do.

“We’ve got a rope maker coming in to show how they make the old ropes and a knot maker,” Mr Buchholz said.

“All the artisans are out there and they’re basically few and far between these people.”

Rough and Ready boat building will also take place, in which competitors can put their skills to the test, designing and decorating their own wooden boat before racing them with paddles.

Live music and a pirate hat competition will also be on offer over the weekend.

For the best view of the races, Mr Buchholz recommended heading into the yacht club and enjoying the full experience of the festival.

“Come down and visit our club, see what’s going on here and appreciate these crafts as they are,” he said.

The festival will run from March 9 to March 11.

For more information and the full program, head to woodenboatfestivalgeelong.com.au