Australian square metre association

Welcome to ASQMA.com

The website comes out of hibernation for the new sailing season.
This month....

The Lure of the Square Metre Yacht
We take a look at Larools Powerplant.
The magic of winter racing onboard Scarlett O'hara




The Lure of the Square Metre Yacht




Some extremly well written truths in this... Priceless!

"Written by user (Henning 4148) on The Wooden Boat Forum"


From my point of view the right boat for men who want wooden beauty above anything else is a square meter. Either 30 or 50. Everything else is compromise!

True stunners, really, for pure beauty few girls can compete. And they can sail!!! Close hauled to reaching they will outsail most everything you will meet on the water. In real style. Healing over a bit (or a bit more) and then accelerating. Winning 15 to 20 minutes per hour on your average week end racing cruisers. They don't go over waves, they (at least partially) go right through them. Call it wave piercing. Far more comfortable motion than any lightweight flat bottomned whatever. So to say the big sisters of the Dark Harbour. Yes, we are talking about the dark side of sailing here. You didn't know there was one? Well, there is - the square meter class. Well sailed they have won against J's under handicap. Met two owners years ago, both divorced, both living on the boat. Which is ok, because with two people on bord it gets a bit cramped and anything beyond that would be challenging to say the least. The wifes tend to understand - and leave. They simply can not compete.

I guess after a few years the lure will wear off, its a bit cold in winter and so on. Then you will be ripe for glass, a new girl, a 9 to 5 and a semi detached.

Just joking of course.

The lure will not wear off! But you will feel your joints more and more with all the rheuma and then you will have to realize, that it is your duty beyond anything else to pass this beautifull lady on to a younger man who can look after her until he gets too old as well.

This is the secret of the square meter class. A secret only revealed to wooden boat owners. You may not reveal this secret to someone who owns, operates or prefers fibre glass boats. And never to anybody who does so at his wifes request. The square meter is a boat for men who don't make compromises.“

As I said, this is oversimplifying. Lets look at the whole issue a bit closer.

Of course the square meters are boats. And boats are things. They don't live. They are not evil. Quite the opposite. Square meters are racing boats. They are beautifull racing boats. Thoroughbreds. They were quite many. A fleet of sisters. Of stunning sisters. And - the wizzards who designed them gave them the ability to bewitch men.

The promise the square meters gave was „take me out on the sea and we can play with the wind and the waves and race nearly everything in sight into the ground“. Whilst playing with the wind and the waves and racing nearly everything in sight into the ground, these ladies turned many an innocent boy who boarded them into an experienced man.

Square meters were used to lure men away from their homes and families, their fathers farms, their young brides, sometimes their little children, to become naval officers. Men, often without a marine background, who, but for the square meters, would never have discovered their love for the sea and might never have signed on. To race such boats would simply have been unaffordable for most young men who sailed them, if these boats hadn't been owned by the state. Many of them died a few years later on the submarines and battle ships they crewed and commanded. There is no free lunch.

So big was the lure of these boats, that even Churchill fell for them. Many of the square meters were taken to Great Britain (Windfall Yachts) where the young British men spent far more time maintaining and sailing them then was good for the British economy. The Germans now had time again to work in their factories. In the sixties and seventies, the German economy kept going up and the British started to go down. All because of the square meters. (Ok, there is some argument on this point between those historians who sail wooden boats and those who just research paper).

Some day, you may see one of the remaining ones. You will ask someone: „What boat is that beautifull one over there?“ You may get the answer „50 square meter“. It's your decision if you step closer or just turn and run. If you are not very rich but leading a happy life with a wife you love, a home you enjoy, take my advice and run. You are still there? You are coming closer? You look through her misty portholes deep into her soul, seeing the shadows of the men who have loved her slender body before you? Suddenly you have the idea in your head that it would be nice to take this lady out to sea, to play with the wind and the waves and race nearly everything in sight into the ground? Ah, well, she has done it again. She can't help herself. You are bewitched. You will spend all your spare time doing the necessary maintenance and repairs, caressing her buttocks, submerging yourself in her moist bilge, your ripcage touching hers, feeling the coolness of her skin, smelling her, toiling away on your knees and your belly, spending your money and yourself on her. Find out the asking price, then go and see your bank manager about a home secured loan. Buy her, pack your things, tell your wife about the home secured loan and run.

The square meter will keep her promise: Take me out on the sea and we can play with the wind and the waves and race nearly everything in sight into the ground.



To see the full thread click here




Taking a look at Larools Powerplant.


Dear Cameron / Manfred,

Compliments on your informative website on the square metre class.
We supplied the electric drive system for ‘Larool’ which was installed by Simon at Sydney Harbour Wooden Boats, as mentioned on your site.

‘Larool’ previously had no motor and a solution was sought to power the boat with minimal interference on the heritage timber hull. This was found in a Mastervolt-Bellmann electric motor, imported from Holland and supplied by Eco Boats Australia.

The 4.8kW DC electric motor is light and compact, yet it drives a 13” feathering propeller and gives a performance equivalent to a 13HP diesel inboard. The electric drive system generates full torque at any RPM and is highly efficient, giving Larool a top speed of 6.5 knots under power. A display informs on the energy consumption and remaining running time.



Power to the motor is supplied by a 48V / 120Ah AGM battery bank which provides approx 2 hours running time at cruising speed. The onboard battery charger can be plugged in to shore power to top up the batteries after use.



The electric motor is clean and virtually maintenance free and gives the owner the same quiet experience under power as when under sail.



For more info on the electric motor supplier visit: www.ecoboats.com.au
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Kind regards,


Steven Mullie
Eco Boats Australia Pty Ltd






The magic of winter racing onboard Scarlett O'hara.


Thanks to the fantastic skipper and crew of Scarlett O'hara I have been able to spend my winter in boating bliss with racing on Sydney Harbour. We had some tight finishes a few wins and some good times. With the winter series over I am getting that itch again. Its not long now until the summer sailing season starts.
Enjoy these fantastic photos...supplied by http://www.sportsailingphotography.com












The photos below are of Larool as we sailed by...



Off the bow skipper..



Salt air, great weather and a vision of a yacht sailing by..







Next time we visit some more reflections on the Skipper Alfred Paton.