Remembering Matthew Flinders

The following information is from the Australian National Maritime Museum.

2024 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Matthew Flinders; a great seafaring explorer, charting much of Australia’s coastline despite a series of trials and wild adventures. An outstanding sailor, surveyor, navigator and scientist, he was a considerate and self-sacrificing leader who looked after all under his command.

Flinders was laid to rest in London, England (1814), but his grave’s location became a mystery.?The headstone on Flinders’ grave disappeared in the 1840s, and his remains were lost. It took almost two centuries to find his grave, which was unearthed during excavation of the burial ground?in London January 2019. The discovery sparked a passionate?successful campaign?by his descendants and locals, to have Flinders reburied in the town he was born – Donington, England.

The reburial will take place Saturday 13 July 2024 at 10.30pm Sydney time and will be livestreamed on the Matthew Flinders Bring Him Home YouTube channel. You can watch on the link below.

Help Wanted

Coral Taylor is trying to find out every girl who won Queen of the Harbour between 1927 and 2010.  We will put up specific questions over the next weeks so keep watching this space.

To date 63 Queen of the Harbour names have been found.  Seventeen more were recently added thanks to the files prepared by John Stanley and stored in the SFS History Room.

 It sure takes time to work through the  weekly SFS Programmes and further complicated by the issue that often the event was not sailed on  the same date each year!

 If you have any information on the SFS Queen of the Harbour event, please contact me.  In our wider community there may be articles or pictures stored away?  Do you know anyone who could help?

Please contact me  coral@taylorworks.com.au 

 M: 0407 672439

 

An extract from the press dated March 29, 1930:

 Greatest Social Function
Queen of the Harbour Ball

One-eyed pirates, buccaneers, sailors of both sexes, gay colourings and fancy dresses, made the Sydney Flying Squadron’s Queen of the Harbour Ball the greatest and most brilliant social function ever known in the history of the sailing movement.

Opening Hours – Tue-Sat from 11.30am-late – Sun from 11.30am-4pm

Sydney Flying Squadron (SFS) is the original home of the famous Sydney Harbour sailing skiff class, the 18-footers. The Sydney Flying Squadron Yacht Club was founded by Mark Foy in 1891.  He promoted a vision of open boat sailing with broad popular appeal for spectators and open to all sailors, regardless of financial background. In doing so, he challenged the gentlemanly sailing conventions of the day, particularly by having coloured sails and prize money!

A fleet of replica boats from early 1900s up to the 1940s race each Saturday from October through to Easter each year. They are built and sailed using skills no longer practiced. These boats provide an insight into how sailing used to be almost a century ago.

Sydney
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Amalgamation

View a message from the Commodore on the current state of the amalgamation between SFS and the Australian 18 Footers League.

“Friends of the Squaddie”

Following the work carried out by the Amalgamation Sub-Committee appointed by the SFS Board to examine the Amalgamation proposal, a majority of members of that Sub-Committee have formed the Friends of the Squaddie to campaign for the Amalgamation to be rejected by SFS members.

See the documents that the sub-committee provided to the SFS board on 12-Feb-2024 here:  

Amalgamation between Sydney Flying Squadron and Double Bay 18-footer League

The Board of the Sydney Flying Squadron (SFS) has decided to postpone the Amalgamation Member Vote from the proposed date of 16th March, 2024 to a date to be set in late April or May, 2024.

Other Related Websites

The Open Boat – Celebrating the 18-footers and all open boats. Lots of history, yarns and pictures.

Click here…

Historic Skiffs – The home of the Australian Historical Skiff Sailing Association.

Click here…

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Ferry Trips

Each Saturday of the sailing season we have a ferry leave the club at 2.00 to follow the races. It returns around 4.30. Enjoy lunch at Foys Restaurant before you leave.

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Restaurant & Bar

Foys restaurant and bar offers the very best of casual dining showcasing the iconic beauty of Sydney Harbour while embracing the hive of the north shore working waterfront.

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Function Hire

The perfect location for your event or function. The restaurant, boardroom and sunset deck are available to hire for corporate or private functions – large and small.

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Sailing

Sydney Flying Squadron conducts racing on the picturesque Sydney Harbour for senior skiff classes on Saturdays during the summer months of October – April.

Welcome to Australia’s oldest open boat sailing club

The Sydney Flying Squadron today still enshrines much of Foy’s vision. The Historic 18-Footers race with coloured insignia to enable spectators to distinguish each skiff in following the races. They sail courses in view of a ferry of onlookers following the race, and a timed handicap start enables a thrilling, first-over-the-line finish for the ferry patrons. These unique wooden boats keep alive the skills and excitement of boats you would normally only see in a museum.

From early October to Easter, the SFS sails the Historic 18-foot skiffs on Saturdays. The Club also hosts other open boat or skiff classes, such as the 12 footers. A dedicated spectator ferry runs on Saturdays during the sailing season, providing a magnificent harbour cruise while following the 18-footers’ racing. It is easily the best value, and most visually exciting cruise on our magnificent harbour!

Situated at the end of Careening Cove, Kirribilli, the Sydney Flying Squadron clubhouse enjoys spectacular water views and is situated next to Milsons Park which provides a large grassy rigging area. It is a great sight on Saturday mornings in summer, when the Historic 18-footers are rigged on the lawn, before launching down the ramp next to the Club for the afternoons’ racing.

Facilities include a boatshed, wharf, balcony, bar and the stunningly refurbished Foy’s Kirribilli Restaurant – the perfect location for all your social events. A café operates on the lower deck, accessed from Milsons Park.

Membership is open to sailing and social members and offers the best value of all amongst Sydney Sailing Clubs. The location cannot be bettered.

See you there!

Ahoy!

Renewals are now open for 23/24. Beyond access to our historic Club, Membership gets you:

  • $50 food and beverage birthday voucher

  • 10% off across the menu*

  • Discounted merchandise and ferry tickets

  • Exclusive member events throughout the year

*not in conjunction with any other offer; excludes functions