In 1907 the 18foot skiffs ‘came of age’ as a distinct fleet of celebrated racing open boats with their first Inter State Australian Championships. Hundreds of people crammed on steamers to watch the racing and thousands more lined the harbour every Saturday to watch the racing.

Now a number of skippers from the Sydney Flying Squadron have built replicas of famous boats to recreate the thrill of their forebears. On the right of the picture is the replica ‘Alruth’ and in the centre is ‘Tangalooma’. Most notable in the foreground is the exact copy of the ‘Britannia’. How do we know she is an exact copy? The boat is exact because Ian Smith her builder and skipper copied exactly the original boat which is hung on the wall of the Australian Maritime Museum. It is only a pity we cannot see her Red Ensign emblem on her mains’le, which is obscured by her jib. The original boat raced from 1913 for nearly thirty years winning her five foot three tall skipper ‘Wee Georgie’ Robinson many prizes.

There is only one steamer following the fleet around the harbour these days and the once illegal gambling is not so intense. That is not to say these small boats with their large crews of movable ballast and massive sail area does not make a fine sight..