The profiles listed in this Register have been documented from the stories and photos contributed by custodians and others who willingly shared information. Readers who have additional information about the history of any Couta Boat are invited to forward it to couta_profile@coutaboat.com.au so that it can be added to the Register.
Charlie Peel
Planking Topsides: Douglas Fir
Planking below waterline: Spotted Gum
Ribs: Original Spotted Gum, replaced in 2005 with Celery Top Pine
Early Years
Torea C1938 is believed to have been built in 1938 in Sydney, possibly at Hayes Yard, Careening Cove, on the northern side of Sydney Harbour. The wooden carvel cutter has a profile and hull section shape that is the hallmark of Victorian designer Charlie Peel.
She is built of Douglas Fir, Spotted Gum and Celery Top Pine. She has fine lines and is similar in some respects to Charlie Peel’s Sydney boats Native, Monsoon and Hoana, which spent three years cruising around the world in the 1960s.
Torea has been built with a typical shipwright’s craftsmanship of the period and is well proportioned. She is primarily a cruising yacht and was probably raced in small club events from time to time.
The early history remains unclear. All that is known is that by the mid 1990s, Torea was in Sydney and in poor condition. In 1999, a first restoration had Torea sailing again.
Torea was purchased and transported to Sorrento, Victoria by the current owner in December 2004. She was re-ribbed and restored at the Wooden Boat Shop during 2005 and relaunched in March 2006.
She has much of the Couta boat heritage in her design with a 5 foot jibboom, inclined wine glass transom and a full-length wooden keel and drawing 1 foot more than a Couta Boat but with no centreplate.
She has a full cabin with a Bermudan cutter rig, which may be her original configuration. This makes Torea an ideal weekend cruising boat but able to make an occasional passage as she did to Hobart for the 2009, 2011 and 2017 Australian Wooden Boat Festivals.
Torea is listed in the Australian Register of Historic Vessels – Vessel Number HV000094
References:
Australian Register of Historic Vessels.
https://arhv.sea.museum/en/search/results/Torea
Classic Yacht Association of Australia
Torea Article in the Classic Yacht Association Magazine June 2017 Edition
