Alice C7

Early Years
Alice was built by Peter Locke in Queenscliff, Victoria, circa 1930s, to a length of 20 foot. It is believed that in her early years she worked as a fishing vessel out of Lorne on the south-west coast of Victoria.

Custodian: Charlie Young; Early 1980s – 1984
In the early 1980s, Blairgowrie boatbuilder Charlie Young came across the boat at Rosebud, located on the southern shore of Port Phillip. He  took her to his garage and, with the assistance of his sons Chris and Danny, restored her. Charlie removed a lifting hook from her stern, indicating that she had fished out of Lorne. The hook enabled the boat to be hoisted in and out of the water for storage on the pier overnight.

Custodian: Nancy and Robert Kimpton; 1984 – Present
In 1984, Alice was for sale. Nancy and Robert Kimpton had purchased and sailed a 16 foot net boat for three years in the early Couta Boat fleet that raced out of Portsea. They were advised, however, to ‘get a real boat’. After viewing Alice on her mooring at Camerons Bight, Blairgowrie, Nancy met with Charlie Young and negotiated to purchase the boat.

The Kimptons entered Alice into most of the scheduled Couta Boat Club (CBC) events.

We enjoyed the challenge of sailing in the fleet, despite copping the occasional abuse for getting ourselves in someone else’s way. In those days there was a lot of competition between the old boats and the few new replicas.

In particular, Robert recalls The Petersville Regatta comprising three races run over consecutive weekends in January.

The course was a passage race that commenced at Portsea and was sailed along the South Channel, Sorrento Channel and Capel Sound,  finishing at Blairgowrie. In these passage races Alice usually performed well, due to the long reaches and a favourable handicap that was set from her performance around the buoys in club races.

Nancy and Robert continued to sail Alice in CBC events regularly into the 1990s, but slowly discovered the joys of cruising rather than racing.

Over the last 10 to 15 years, the boat has competed in a couple of the Lacco Cup series conducted at Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club. The siblings, however, now prefer the peace and quiet of a cruise to Rosebud on a Saturday afternoon, to racing. They use Alice for recreational fishing, drifting for flathead or anything else that will bite.

In 2012, the decision was made to have the deck replaced before it fell off. It was soon discovered that she was in need of extensive repairs and so the boat was practically rebuilt, hopefully extending her life by another 35 years.

After nearly 40 years of owning and sailing Alice, Robert reminisces:

She has been a welcome member of the Kimpton families over a long period of time. The time has come to move her on but we can’t take that giant leap!

Within a short time, however, they did take the leap.

Custodian: Graham Hodges; 2020 – Present
In December 2020, Graham Hodges purchased Alice from Robert in a transaction brokered by Tim Phillips. Robert was reluctant to part with Alice but he was not sailing her and wanted her to continue to be part of the Sorrento fleet. Graham upgraded into Alice from a smaller boat with the intention of racing her in the Division 2 fleet out of the SSCBC.

Alice was in excellent condition, having been well looked after by Robert and Nancy. After a delay caused by Covid, Graham and his colleague Neil Cathels entered Alice in the Division 2 racing in the 2022/23 season. Neil was a seasoned Division 1 sailor and enjoyed the transition to a smaller boat where they raced two-handed for the whole of that season.

We didn’t have a lot of success that year, often coming last in the Division 2 fleet, even on handicap. Alice proved to be a better boat than Graham was a skipper, but we improved during the year and ended up coming third on handicap in the Winter Series. That late season success spurred us on for greater things in the 2023/24 season.

Alice proved a lovely boat to sail and in preparation for the up-coming season Graham ordered a new main sail and a new No 2 jib, Neil fitted a traveller and they spent the off-season sprucing Alice’s paintwork and spars.

The 2023/24 season saw Alice still at the back of the Division 2 fleet in the CBA Nationals, the early Aggregate races, and the Portsea Cup. Andrew Lane joined Alice as a third regular crew member in early 2024. The crew started to improve their racing skills as the season progressed, with a first place on handicap in a Summer Series race and a second and third place in the Autumn Series.

The season, however, was interrupted for a month as a result of Alice being sunk off Rye pier in the Australia Day passage race. With winds over 30 knots, the skipper made a small tactical error and Alice went down in just seconds. The SSCBC team were there on the spot to help, and thanks to Tim, Sam and Will Phillips from the Wooden Boatshop and Club Captain Harry Mighell, Alice was up at the boat yard in a few hours in need of a clean but not damaged. The crew were fine, with only their pride damaged. Ironically, they came first on handicap, but Alice was sidelined for a month.

Back in the water in early March, Alice and her crew had a number of good races in the Lacco Cup, the Mud Island race, and others but their season highlights were winning the Winter Season, with strong finishes in all four races, and being awarded the most improved boat in Division 2 at the Club Presentation night.

We realised as the year progressed that Alice was a strong performer down wind and the new sails and traveller allowed her to point higher into the wind, eliminating a disadvantage we had in the previous season. We had lots of encouragement from members of the club during the year and towards the end of the season we had several experienced sailors join us on Alice and provide tips to improve our performance.

We feel privileged to be sailing Alice and are looking forward to Grace Clarke becoming a regular crew member in the 2024/25 season.

Alice is moored in Sorrento waters.