News

With the largest online audience of surfers and coastal users in Australia, Coastalwatch.com has
been the go-to place for surfers for over 10 years. Now, Australia's premiere coastal resource site is launching its new full featured extension, Coastalwatch Plus, a premium service that will make it simple for surfers to stay on the pulse with the ocean. [read more...]

Lara Giddings, premier of Tasmania, has announced a new A$3m marina in Prince of Wales Bay in Hobart.

The 160-slip marina expected to be completed by March 2012. The development is a joint venture between CleanLIFT Marine and INCAT. It will include 160 berths for boats up to 35m, dry-stack storage for boats up to 10m, as well as chandlery, brokerage and shower facilities. [read more...]

With the recent report that IFS has invested licence fees in properties, we are interested in your opinion. Feel free to add your comments on the topic also.

See the article and poll by following the link below.

http://www.fishingboatingtasmania.com.au/forum/index.php?topic=1299.0 [read more...]

Environment Tasmania yesterday launched a new report titled 'Nowhere Else on Earth: Tasmania's Marine Natural Values'. This report has for the first time, collated the science of Tasmania's marine life on a state-wide level, and found that Tasmania has extraordinary natural values of global conservation significance. [read more...]

www.fishingboatingtasmania.com.au
Launched a mere 10 weeks ago, Fishing & Boating Tasmania now has more than 160 members with new members joining daily. The majority are Tasmanian-based but we are also lucky to have a number of interstate members who have provided some fantastic reports and continue to contribute on a regular basis. [read more...]

The tenth Australian Wooden Boat Festival will be held in Hobart from 8 to 11 February 2013. It is time for all you wooden boat owners to start thinking about polishing the brass-work and varnishing the topsides in readiness for the biggest wooden boat festival in the world. [read more...]

The 48m tall Cape Wickham Lighthouse on the northernmost tip of King Island began operating 150 years ago on November 1st 1861 and has operated continuously since that first night of operation. This very unique milestone anniversary is to be celebrated in 2011 with a five day Whole-of-Island celebration happening from the 3rd to the 7th of November. [read more...]

Tasmania's Team Whistler will begin their second consecutive bid to win the UK Three Peaks Yacht Race, one of the greatest adventure challenges in British sport.

Team Whistler, comprising sailors David Rees (skipper), Tim Jones and Jory Linscott and runners Jacqui Guy and Michael McIntyre, from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, finished third overall last year following their victory in the Tasmanian Three Peaks Race, which is modelled on the British event. [read more...]

A PARLIAMENTARY inquiry into the shortcomings of the $1.6 million PV Fortescue yesterday heard the boat would never be able to complete all the tasks it was designed to perform.
Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner Phil Wilkinson said the reasons for the failings were "vague and uncertain".
Mr Wilkinson said the design was not "tried and tested". [read more...]

The crew of last year's Tasmanian Three Peaks Race winning yacht Whistler has even higher aspirations this year: to win the local event for the second consecutive year and then win the British Three Peaks after placing a close third overall last year. [read more...]

For the latest news visit

http://www.australianwoodenboatfestival.com.au/images/enews_21_Apr11.pdf [read more...]

The Tasmanian One Design yacht Vanity, built in Hobart in 1911, has returned to sail on the River Derwent in her centenary year and be one of the major attractions at the MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival.

Vanity, which has been lovingly restored in Queensland by her current owner, now Hobart-based Robert Virtue, is moored in her new berth at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania in Sandy Bay. [read more...]

Wooden Boat Festival 11-14 Feb - Stall volunteers needed!
Ocean Planet and Environment Tasmania are having an information stall at the Wooden Boat Festival to celebrate and promote their new marine film'Tasmania's unique marine environment'. The Festival goes from 12noon Friday 11 Feb to 3pm Monday 14 Feb. We are looking for delightful, passionate individuals to help out at the stall. [read more...]

The first outbreak of AVG in Tasmania was at an abalone processing plant at Mornington in 2008 and it then reappeared at the plant again 2009. In January 2011 a land-based abalone farm at Bicheno was quarantined after the disease AVG was confirmed and PCR test results confirmed the presence of AbHV in the farmed abalone.

In 2002-03 a herpes-like virus and a 'spherical virus' with a diameter of 100-130 nanometres was reported in diseased abalone (Haliotis diversicolor) in Taiwan (Chang et al., 2005) and in Guangdong Province, China (Wang et al., 2004).

[read more...]

A quick reminder that the Ocean Planet meeting is on next Thursday 27th January from 5.30pm at ET office, Level 1, 100 Elizabeth St.

Please also consider applying for a position in ET's fantastic Internship program (or let a friend know). It's a great opportunity to gain on-the-job experience in conservation, project management, communications, research and advocacy in Tasmania's conservation council, with projects focussed on marine, coasts, forests and outreach. Contact members@et.org.au for more info [read more...]

Last night (Jan 20) the problem plagued Police Vessel PV Fortescue was leaking diesel fuel into Lindisfarne Bay. Although little fuel escaped through a crack in the welded seam, the leak appeared to be the result of yet another design flaw in the problem plagued vessel. [read more...]

Tasmanian yachtsmen have issued a challenge to visiting mainland yacht owners to contest the nation's southernmost ocean race, the Mewstone, to be sailed out of Hobart to 43 degrees south on 21 January 2011.

Local yachts already entered include David Creese's Dekadence, Nat Morgan's Hot August Night, Shes the Culprit, to be skippered by Paul Nanscawen, and Whistler, skippered by David Rees. [read more...]

SailTime Australia announced today the opening of their fourth base in Australia, complimenting successful launches in Newport and Middle Harbour, and newcomer Lake Macquarie. [read more...]

Twenty three Tasmanian artists will be featured in the Oceans of Art Cocktail Party and Auction on Saturday 20th in support of Environment Tasmania’s ocean conservation work.

The Oceans of Art event will auction off works including sculpture, painting, furniture design, photography and works on paper from artists such as renowned craftsman and Living Treasure Kevin Perkins, State Architect Peter Poulet, favourite local printmakers Madeleine Goodwolf, Mandy Renard and Michael Schlitz, wilderness photographer Rob Blakers, and exciting painters Tricky Walsh and Bobby-z Lambert. [read more...]

Alcohol has been banned on smaller Tasmanian police boats, after it was revealed two crew members were drinking beer in the hours before the sinking of a boat in May off the state's north east coast.

The Karie's skipper has denied drinking, and Marine and Safety Tasmania has found alcohol did not cause the accident. It has not been revealed whether the skipper was actually in charge of the vessel when it collided with the rocks or whether the skipper was alcohol tested immediately afterwards. The $150,000+, 7.5metre vessel was equipped with GPS and radar [read more...]

Seasonal closures apply for squid, including southern calamari in some east coast waters from 15 October 2010 to 14 November 2010 inclusive.

The closure applies to all waters south from Lemon Rock (south of Wineglass Bay) to the northern end of Marion Beach (south of Maria Island) and includes Coles Bay, Great Oyster Bay and the Mercury Passage.

See page 60 of the Recreational Sea Fishing Guide 2010 -11 for more information. [read more...]

A closure for scallop fishing has been declared in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel for the 2011 season to protect scallop stocks and reduce the likelihood of long term closures. All other State waters will be open from 16 April to 31 July 2011. A flyer explaining the rationale of the closure has been sent with all the licence renewals this year. [read more...]

Staged on Hobart's historic Sullivans Cove waterfront docks the festival regularly attracts over 500 wooden boats of all shapes and sizes ranging from majestic tall ships to the smallest row boats.

Tens of thousands of people from all over the world congregate in this perfect setting to enjoy the spectacular celebration of our maritime heritage and craftsmanship. Dockside music, theatre, fabulous Tasmanian foods and beverages, boats ashore and afloat, the maritime marketplace, shipwrights village are some of the many attractions that bring the waterside to life. [read more...]

Tasmanian yacht She's the Culprit will seek vengeance in this year's Sydney Hobart Yacht Race for the heartbreaking crash that forced the boat out of last year's race, just 30 minutes after the start on Sydney Harbour.

As the holed 30-footer and her crew limped back to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Rushcutters Bay owner/skipper Todd Leary decided to hang up his sailing boots for good, and put the yacht on the market. [read more...]

Alexandre Caizergues beat the outright world speed record under sail with an average of 54.10 knots (100.19 km/hr) over 500 metres of the Luderitz channel (Namibia) yesterday. The young Frenchman is the new outright speed record holder. He has deposed Hydroptère and its 51.36 knots record. [read more...]

Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson has hit out at a "bitter" and "angry" former activist who says he was told to sink an anti-whaling ship as a publicity stunt.

Peter Bethune, the former captain of Sea Shepherd trimaran Ady Gil, claims he was ordered to sink the vessel after it collided with a Japanese whaler in the Southern Ocean in January. [read more...]

Doubts have been raised about whether Tasmania Police's newest vessel will ever be able to perform effectively.
The'Fortescue'has been plagued by problems since it was launched in October 2008.
They are so bad that police have admitted their search and rescue capacity is limited. [read more...]

THE drowning of an experienced yachtsman during the unofficial start to Tasmania's sailing season was a tragic accident that no one could have foretold, Derwent Sailing Squadron commodore Peter Geeves said yesterday.

Ross Cubit, 51 of West Hobart, was one of three crew aboard the 14m catamaran Storm Bay.

About 10.15pm on Friday Tasmania Police was told a man had fallen overboard while competing in the first inshore race of a three-day event. [read more...]

A MOONAH man has died while diving for scallops in the d'Entrecasteaux Channel.

The 48-year-old was in Great Bay, off Bruny Island, when he got into difficulty yesterday.

Marine Police and another boat in the Channel responded to the distress call from the man's two diving companions.

Tasmania Police said cardio-pulmonary resuscitation was given until the Tasmanian Ambulance Service met them at Woodbridge but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. [read more...]

Tasmanian sailors Zac Pullen from Hobart and Angus Barton from Launceston are well down the overall standings after the third day of competition in the Laser Radial World Youth Championships being sailed at Largs, Scotland.

Lack of wind prevented any sailing for the first day and a half and so far the 320 competitors from 42 nations have completed only three races, with today’s racing in 6-8 knots. [read more...]

Derwent Sailing Squadron's third race of its Winter Pennants update: Like winter racing anywhere in Australia, the winds cometh and goeth. On Hobart's River Derwent, however, there is the added chill of sailing on a mid-winter's day.
[read more...]

Australian naval architect Incat Crowther will design a 26-metre catamaran ferry for Seychelles operator Inter Island Boats.

To be built in Tasmania by Richardson Devine Marine, 'Cat Cocos III' will be the third vessel Incat Crowther has designed for the operator. [read more...]

Team Whistler, Australia’s sole entry in the British Three Peaks Race, tonight are steadily gaining ground on the leading UK boats as they sail up the rugged coast of Scotland on the final on-water leg of the challenging combination of short-handed sailing and mountain climbing.

As they passed the island of Islay (famous for its single malt whisky) and headed north toward the famous seaport of Oban, Team Whistler’s chartered 38-footer Lightning Reflex had sailed into third place in the fleet, regaining some of the time lost by tide and time at Whitehaven at the end of the second sailing leg. [read more...]

Team Whistler from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania has won the first sailing leg of the British Three Peaks Race, from Barmouth to Caernarfon in Wales, with its runners started out on the cross country run and steep climb to the top of Mount Snowdon and back.
The Three Peaks Race started early today, Australian time, with Team Whistler’s chartered yacht, Lightning Reflex, outsailing the other 22 boats on the 62 nautical miles of sailing to reach Caernarfon in the narrow Menai Straits about eight hours later. [read more...]

Hobart yachtsman David Rees and his team face a unique experience in the British Three Peaks Race that starts in Wales tonight – 'taking an ocean racer white water rafting.'

Rees made this comment on the eve of the rugged sailing and mountain running challenge ahead of Team Whistler when the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania team joins 22 other teams in the 33rd running of the ‘grandfather’ of three peaks events, whose offspring includes the Tasmanian Three Peaks. [read more...]

SHIPBUILDER Austal has this morning announced it will close its Tasmanian operations.

In a blow to Tasmanian manufacturing, the West Australian-based company advised the Australian Securities Exchange this morning that the Margate shipyard would close in September. [read more...]

Experienced Hobart yachtswoman Lisa Blackwood today won a hard-fought and, at times, dramatic Sargison Jewellers Tasmanian women’s keelboat regatta on a windswept Derwent River that saw two ‘women overboard’ incidents.

Sailing in the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania’s fleet of Elliott 5.9 sportsboats, the ten all-women crews battled chilly 20 knot winds with the gold fleet result decided on Blackwood’s tactical skills in the final race. [read more...]

TASMANIAN sailor Rob Gough has become the fastest man in the world in his class, after smashing a speed record in Hobart.

He clocked up an astonishing 30.7 knots, that's about 57 km/h, during a training session in his International Moth on the Derwent River last weekend. [read more...]

STRONG headwinds, sleep deprivation and busy shipping lanes have put the brakes on solo sailor Jessica Watson.

Jessica has been forced to revise her expected ETA at the end of her round the world voyage to the weekend of May 15-16. Right until the weekend Jessica had held on to the slim hope she would be able to make up the significant ground lost because of the horrific weather she has encountered since entering Australian waters just under a month ago. [read more...]

A MAN drowned and another was rescued after their small boat overturned off Lauderdale Beach yesterday evening.
Police said residents on Bangalee St heard the men screaming for help when their wooden boat started taking on water just after 5pm. [read more...]

A MOTHER and father fought four-metre waves and gale-force winds in Bass Strait to beach their yacht and save their two daughters on Sunday night.

Binalong Bay parents Simon and Karin Gilbertson and their daughters Leah, 7, and Tess, 6, had set sail on a six-month holiday to Brisbane 13 days ago. [read more...]

First boat home Team Whistler, skippered by Hobart barrister David Rees, completed the course just before midnight on Monday, taking out the racing monohull division with a total time of three days, eight hours and 41 minutes. [read more...]

Fishermen are voluntarily pushing for a 20 percent quota reduction in Tasmanian lobster catches over the next three years.
The Tasmanian lobster is under threat of extinction and the fishermen hope that the reduction in quota will secure its long-term sustainability. [read more...]

The century old yacht Aotea is among a fleet of old and new yachts entered for Tasmania's historic Cygnet Regatta, which this weekend is celebrating the 146th anniversary of the first regatta on Port Cygnet, south of Hobart. [read more...]

Australia's newest International Dragon class yacht Xanthos hit the water on the River Derwent christened by 90-year-old former Dragon sailor Edis Boyes.

On a hot and sunny morning in Hobart, Boyes sprinkled champagne over the bow of the new fibreglass boat, owned by Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania member Mike Wilkinson and built at Margate by Zane Ridgeway. [read more...]

COPYRIGHT 2008 BOATSTASMANIA PTY. LTD.
CONTACT US