Tasmania is an island state with a rich maritime history. So it is host to a number of wooden boat-related regular events.There are significant events around Australia, too.
The Guild and its members are participants in, supporters of and in some cases organisers of these events. Individual instances of these events will be listed on the Guild's Calendar, but to provide year-to-year continuity, we've gathered here links to relevant pages or websites about each of the events. The links below will take you to the most recent information about each event, whether that be the next event or the previous one.
Tasmanian events
- Australian Wooden Boat Festival, Hobart
- The Australian Wooden Boat Festival (AWBF) is a biennial event held across the entirety of Hobart’s waterfront. The four-day festival has grown to become the most significant event of its kind in Australia. It takes place at the same time as the Royal Hobart Regatta, over the second weekend in February.
- Kettering Wooden Boat Rally
- Held in the "off-year" of the AWBF, the Kettering Wooden Boat Rally (KWBR) invites sailing vessels, motor boats and dinghies and canoes to a weekend to get out on the water together, and enjoy being aboard a weekend of wooden boats. The criterion for entry is that all participating vessels must have wood as their principal construction material.
- Wooden Boat Rally, Launceston
- The Wooden Boat Rally has been held annually at the Seaport Marina, Launceston, Tasmania, in early February since 2006. Wooden boat lovers, collectors of marine equipment and all things maritime, gather to celebrate and share their passion for the sea and for wooden boats old and new. The rally organisers welcome sailing vessels, motor boats, dinghies and model boats which are substantially of wooden construction.
Other Australian events
- Wooden Boat Festival of Geelong
- The Yanmar Wooden Boatshop Wooden Boat Festival of Geelong is organised by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club. The festival is held over the March Labour Day weekend in Victoria, commencing on the Saturday and running until the Monday. Attracting well over 100 entries, this biennial regatta has been running since 2002. It includes both on water and shore based activities, including a Grand Parade of Boats and Cavalcade of Sail, a Concourse d’ Elegance, racing for the Corio Bay Couta Boat Cup, the Corio Bay Classic Wooden Yacht Cup and the Passage Races from Portarlington to Geelong.
- Classic and Wooden Boat Festival, Sydney
- Organised by the Australian National Maritime Museum, The Classic and Wooden Boat Festival has in previous years celebrated the beauty and diversity of Australia’s heritage vessels and their craftspeople. Run in mid April, the event included on water and shore based activities including maritime demonstrations, harbour cruises and kids activities. Boats were displayed at the museum and in Cockle Bay Marina including Halvorsens, yachts and skiffs, classic speedboats, steam launches, tug boats, whalers and Navy workboats from all around Australia.
