Historic schooner Derwent Hunter back in Hobart waters and open for a new owner

“Very few boats in Australia, let alone Tasmanian-built, have accomplished what this boat has accomplished,” says Warren Ladd, owner of the Derwent Hunter.

Owner and captain of the Derwent Hunter, Warren Ladd. Picture: Zak Simmonds

A SAILING vessel with a special place in Tasmania’s maritime history has returned to Hobart, where it is hoped it can start a fresh chapter in its life after being offered for sale.

The Derwent Hunter, a 90-foot (27.4m) schooner was built in 1946 out of Huon pine, celery top pine, blue gum and other Tasmanian hardwoods by Walter Wilson, of the renowned Wilson Brothers Shipwrights, at Port Cygnet.

It has had a varied and adventurous life, serving as a fishing ketch, leisure and racing yacht, CSIRO marine research vessel, in a television series and, for the past 30 years, on eco-sailing and marine education tours in Queensland’s Whitsunday region.

Derwent Hunter, sailing in the Whitsundays. Picture: Supplied

Owner Warren Ladd, who is winding back his business interests as he eyes retirement, described the Derwent Hunter as one of the “treasures of Tasmania’s maritime story”, highlighting its design, its wooden boat craftsmanship and its seaworthiness.

“She has been revered everywhere. Boats like this don’t stay in service this long without being something special, without endearing themselves to the people that sail on them, that serve on them, that own them and run them,” he told the Sunday Tasmanian.

“Very few boats in Australia, let alone Tasmanian-built, have accomplished what this boat has accomplished ... if it was in North America, it’d be that famous, they’d have it on the back of the 10c piece.”

Mr Ladd recently sailed the Derwent Hunter to the Hobart waterfront and said he would be happy to see the vessel’s next stage of life back in Tasmanian waters, perhaps resuming in the field of marine research and education.

Room on board the Derwent Hunter. Picture: Zak Simmonds

“I’m stepping back after 30 years [with boat], but she’s not ready to lay it up, she’s in good ocean-going condition and ready for another 30 years and I would like to see her stay in Hobart, this is really her home,” he said.

Mr Ladd said the Derwent Hunter had done it all in her 74-year history, from use as a fishing ketch and leisure yacht in its early years to sailing the Southern Ocean and Bass Strait as a research vessel for the CSIRO between 1950 to 1962.

Derwent Hunter’s stunning look when under full sail was also featured in 1960s television series The Rovers, when it was briefly renamed Pacific Lady.

Derwent Hunter is being sold under expressions of interest.

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