Tall Ship Tenacious set to sail up River Derwent in Hobart

THE largest wooden boat to be built in the United Kingdom in the past century is set to sail up the River Derwent.

THE largest wooden boat to be built in the United Kingdom in the past century is set to sail up the River Derwent.

The SV Tenaciouswill dock in the city on Friday as part of a pre-event visit ahead of the 2017 Australian Wooden Boat Festival, to be held at Hobart in February.

Tenacious, the largest wooden boat constructed in the UK for 100 years, will be in the River Derwent from 9.30am tomorrow before docking alongside Princes Wharf at 11.30am.

She has already visited Melbourne and, more recently, Port Adelaide.

The three-masted — or barque — vessel was built in Southampton in 2000 by 1500 volunteers, about half of whom were living with a disability.

The vessel was designed to make it possible for sailors with a disability to “work the ship” on her ocean-going, bluewater passages.

Physical disabilities, sensory disabilities or intellectual disabilities present no barriers to sailors taking part in long-distance sailing journeys.

Able-bodied sailors are equally welcome aboard, with the ratio of able-bodied to those with a disability usually about half and half among the 40-member crew.

The ship is operated by the Jubilee Sailing Trust, a charity which uses tall ship training to break down barriers between people of different circumstances.

There is still some capacity aboard SV Tenacious for voyages leading up to and after the Wooden Boat Festival.

One-day sailing experiences are now available out of Hobart on Saturday and Sunday and the and an ocean-going experience — a seven-day passage to Melbourne departing from Hobart on November 12 — is also available.

For more information, email [e-mail] or by phoning 0429 186 625.

The Wooden Boat Festival will be held at Sullivans Cove from February 10 to 13.

Originally published as Tall Ship Tenacious set to sail up River Derwent in Hobart