KATHLEEN GILLETT lifebuoy
Maker
Halvorsen Boats Pty Ltd
Date1950s
Object number00039131
NameLifebuoy
MediumFibreglass, rope
DimensionsShowcase: 800 x 800 x 85 mm; 3.4kg
ClassificationsVessels and fittings
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Halvorsen Boats Pty Ltd
DescriptionKATHLEEN GILLETT lifebuoy.HistoryThe gaff-rigged ketch, KATHLEEN GILLETT was a Bicentennial gift from Norway. Based on the seaworthy fishing, pilot and rescue boats of Norway's most famous designer, Colin Archer, it was built for marine artist Jack Earl in Sydney in the 1930s. Earl was one of the founders of the Sydney-Hobart yacht race, sailing Kathleen in the first race in 1945. In 1947 KATHLEEN GILLETT, named after Earl's wife, became the second Australian yacht to circumnavigate the globe.
After being sold by Jack Earl in the 1950s, KATHLEEN GILLETT's adventurous career included island trade in Torres Strait and crocodile-hunting expeditions around Bougainville and the Solomon Islands. In 1967 Kathleen again became a cruising yacht, and again sailed in the Sydney-Hobart yacht race.
In 1987 the ketch, much changed, was located in Guam and purchased by the Norwegian Government as a Bicentennial gift to the people of Australia. It was shipped to Sydney for restoration by the Norwegian descended boat builder Carl Halvorsen. The restoration work was based on photographs and conversations with Jack Earl, and plans drawn up by Alan Payne.
