Typed manuscript by Peter Luke about building WAYFARER

Date1940s - 1950s

Object numberANMS1105[044]

NameManuscript

Mediumpaper

DimensionsOverall: 20 x 215 x 285 mm

ClassificationsBooks and journals

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Lindy Boyd

Terms

manuscripts

DescriptionThe manuscript documents the Peter Luke's experience of building and sailing his yacht WAYFARER, one of three surviving yachts from the first Sydney to Hobart race.HistoryPeter Luke launched WAYFARER early in World War II. It was built by Charles Larson in the early 1940s at his yard in Gladesville, Sydney. Larson had experience building a yacht from the same designer, John Alden from the USA. Once the yacht was rigged WAYFARER served with the Volunteer Coastal Patrol on Sydney Harbour and along the NSW coast until the war ended in 1945. In 1944 Peter Luke was one of the co-founders of the Cruising Yacht Club and the Sydney to Hobart race. He sailed WAYFARER in the first Sydney to Hobart yacht race in 1945, finishing last, with a time of of nearly 10 days . They went ashore twice, taking a casual attitude to the event. The logbooks are hand written by Luke and his crew and some include a number of small black and white images taken by Luke. They cover the period of the war when Luke was part of the coastal patrol, the first Hobart race and the 1948 Trans-Tasman race in great detail. Later entries often provide daily information but as Luke gets older the entries become irregular. He and his family lived aboard WAYFARER for many years. Luke was a well known in Australian yachting, living a vagabond lifestyle, and was a close colleague of Jack Earl and his family. WAYFARER is listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels, HV000152. The yacht remained in Luke's possession throughout his life, and was sold by the estate in 2008, a year after his death. SignificanceThis manuscript is part of an archive associated with WAYFARER (HV000152) and its owner Peter Luke, who co-founded the Sydney to Hobart yacht race and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.