Thread: Rainbow 12foot sailing yacht

I think "yacht" is a bit of a stretch, how about 12' scow instead?

We of the English speaking nations (as opposed to American), define a yacht as a "light, fast, sailing vessel"
Within that, there are dinghies, scows, skiffs etc. Sailors of larger boats have tried to restrict the term for sailing vessels with a keel, over 20' LOA.

If you search "yacht" on an American broker site, you'd be lucky to see one sailboat in every 10 boats advertised. They're all big fat motor cruisers, not doubt driven by big fat skippers with big fat wives.

Originally Posted by SimonP

We of the English speaking nations (as opposed to American), define a yacht as a "light, fast, sailing vessel"
Within that, there are dinghies, scows, skiffs etc. Sailors of larger boats have tried to restrict the term for sailing vessels with a keel, over 20' LOA.

If you search "yacht" on an American broker site, you'd be lucky to see one sailboat in every 10 boats advertised. They're all big fat motor cruisers, not doubt driven by big fat skippers with big fat wives.

Ha ha ha!
In Poland every pleasure craft can to be called "yacht" ("jacht" - in Polish), but more often small sailboats calls "żaglówka" (sailboat, dinghy) A bit larger cabin sailboats calls "jacht" (yacht) in Polish.

Fine 12 ft sailboat! Thanks for video!

Simon, you see 1 in 10 sailboats to powerboats at a broker's site, because this is the approximate ratio of power to sail around the world. In fact, this ratio has been steadily declining since the 1960's.

I wouldn't call Australian and English speaking country, at least according to my British friends, who find those living in northern New Jersey the easiest to understand. Of course they absolutely dislike my southern accent to "their language" and the "butchery" Australians do it "their language".


The word yacht has many meanings, but describing a 12' anything as one is a considerable stretch. A yacht needs a berth or mooring in my opinion. If it can live on a trailer, it's not a yacht, though the term pocket yacht is often employed, for the lubbers among us that don't truly understand. Generally, a yacht is a pleasure boat over 20', though this too is a stretch for me, but generally accepted. I would consider anything over 25' a yacht, but am more comfortable with 28' - 30' as the dividing line between boats and yachts.

Yes, our powerboats are fat, but there seems to be a fairly high percentage of them in your country as well. Apparently your brethren also enjoy our fat butted fuel pigs. There's also no doubt that Americans are fat (except me), but again your country seems to be experiencing much of the same thing.

I happen to know quite a few Australians and I've found the rural among us are very similar, in most of the ways that count. The urban among us, think that the only city in Australia has the opera house in it or conversely has a crooked Hollywood sign up in the hills over looking it. The one distinctly different thing I have noticed is patriotism. Americans are quite patriotic, but this seems to be somewhat (possibly more then somewhat) less in Australians. This is purely an observation and not intended to be disrespectful. I could suggest this involves many different issues, but it's something I've noticed.

No doubt about it Par, throwing you a small bait sure catches a wealth of opinion!

Australians are certainly getting fatter - thanks to American fast food franchises everywhere, and we certainly are petrol-heads, again probably thanks to our American-owned auto industries.

When I lived in Michigan for a year in 1994/5 I was amazed at how insular (patriotic?) the locals were. One explained: "You have to understand that we regard our city as our state, our state as our country, and our country as the rest of the world. Other countries may as well be on different planets"
Maybe that's why we foreigners are known as "aliens"
Many locals had no idea we participated in WWII, let alone Vietnam. Some didn't know there was a difference between Australia and Austria!
One thing that can be said for Australians: we know more about the rest of the world than the rest of the world knows about us!

Meaning no disrespect, I wonder if the American sense of ethnocentrism is merely multiple small-town mentalities which have coalesced to reach critical mass.

That said, we were shown a welcome and friendliness we never experienced elsewhere in the world. Pity your TV shows and military/industrial muscle flexing around the world don't portray that image.

Regarding the Aussie butchery of the English language, I can only plead no contest!

It's not American fast food that's getting you fat, it's your willingness to eat, which also includes our willingness to sell you fast food, that's the cause.

Your love affair with cars and the affinity for American muscle cars is also your own doing. I have to admit our muscle cars are works of art, I've owned many, but this should be expected from a fat American.

In fact, this country (much like yours) is literally setup for automotive based life styles. The country is so vast, that we had to make roads just to connect things. Our society now is almost wholly dependent on these roads for survival.

I think the patriotic nature of Americans is also typical of other countries. Australia and to a lesser degree other former British possessions experience this oddity. There was a time that patriotic feelings about Australia was shunned as disrespectful to the "overlords" that brought criminals to your shores for safe keeping.

As for folks that were unaware of your participation in world events, well unfortunately in recent generations, education in this country has waned considerably as the conservatives attempt to gouge governmental agencies to a minimum. It's the same in most countries, the wealthy (conservatives) try top insure a small, non-interference type of government and hope it'll all sort itself out in the end, while the liberals tend to ask for government regulation to protect from over reaching business practices and services for the country needs, like education and other infrastructure.

Most educated here are well aware and grateful for Australia's participation in world events. A good friend of mine that just passed served with me in Vietnam. He was a proud Australian and a good man, even if he did talk funny.

Yep, our TV shows shouldn't be the model we are judged on, nor the escapades of the military. The US military has a tough lot in this world. Since WW II, many nations of the world have traded in their military budgets for protection from the US military. Many of the EU countries that brag about their economies doing so well, should consider that without a military budget to weigh it down, they've got a fairly good deal. This coupled with the fact that for over a century we've been called to fix European and Asian issues repeatedly. WW I was a dead heat until we showed up. WW II was a catastrophe, until the industrial might of this country waded in. In fact, the rebuilding of Europe and many places in the pacific occurred though US tax payer expenditures. Of course the crushed economies of these regions couldn't afford to repay the rebuilding of their infrastructures, so eventually we had no choice but to forgive the loans.

Yep, we're pretty full of ourselves, but consider this nation has had to fight for everything, before quick judgment. We weren't allowed to make metal as a British colony, so we used wooden shovels and plows to build our towns. This country, more then most has had to rely on self invented technology to expand, improve and grow. This independent, industrial spirit is in everyone of us. I'm a multiple patent holder for example. My father's side of the family came here to escape the wrath of the Nazis, he then joined the US Navy to go kill them, but knowing the US military as I do, they promptly sent him to the pacific. My mother's side of the family sold stolen guns to the Indians, in the French and Indian war, before the revolutionary war.

This arrogant diversity is what makes America work. It's difficult to understand from an outside perspective, even within at times, but it is why we manage to adjust and step forward. If you're a history buff, like me, then you might have noticed that America seems to rewrite itself every 10 to 12 years. We aren't entrenched in dogma for too long, before something changes it and we realign values. I think the best part is the diversity. Any and every walk of life, denomination, ethnic back ground, you name it, can and has made a significant contribution here. 80% of this country can trace their ancestry a couple of generations back to another country. So, if we are anything, we are the result of a pot luck dinner.

Doesn't look like the Rainbow I know of in these parts - South Australia.

It's a plywood box.

There was one part restored on this forum a couple of years ago.

I wonder which came first, the Rainbow or the Fireball?

Howdy,

I'd be pretty sure the Australian Plywood Scow - the Rainbow was around before the Fireball - not entirely sure.

Probably not a lot in it if one was before the other. Lots of Australian and New Zealand light plywood racing dinghies come from the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Rainbow has a bit of the feel of that era - I couldn't find any information on the net about when it was designed.

The Fireball is a very clever boat in terms of construction - a bit heavy by OZ standards, but light by Northern Hemisphere standards. It was designed by Peter Milne in '62 as a non trapeze boat non spinnaker boat for a couple to sail together.

My guess is that the simpler Rainbow would have been the mid to late '50s by the type of structure and detailing, but I am not ready to bet money on it! It might also be considerably older as it does seem similar to some Popular Mechanics type boats from much earlier - particularly in detail design.

HA ... just found it.

History: Perth Yachtsman R.J. Hill really started something in 1940 when he designed and built a 12 foot skimmer hull, developed from the American Moth class. He called the new craft 'Iona' and surprised everyone by easily defeating the champion twelve footers of Perth.Iona's performance impressed local yachtsman, who promtptly obtained plans from Hill and embarked on a building programme, which gave birth to the Rainbow class.

We had this up before

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwCfrzURrTU]YouTube - Historical Sailing; 12' Rainbow scow, Brighton and Seacliff YC, circa 1960's[/ame]

I used to sail a Rainbow back in the 70's. They were a great thing to sail. Very fast on a shy reach with that big flat-cut spinnaker set.

They were popular in SA, Vic and Tas.

"Sonic" looks like a fine example, and her gear all looks new like she is still in use.

Mine was called "Schnapps" - sail number was 7128. Haven't seen her for many years now. In fact I haven't seen a Rainbow on the water for probably 25 years, although I have seen a couple rotting away in back yards.

Sad really, there must be thousands of plywood boats from the 60's and 70's of numerous clases rotting away, gathering dust or worse.

Where have they all gone? I wonder if there is a boat heaven.

Cheers, Cameron.

Congratulations draculam on a nice restoration should be a head turning on the beach. Not sure if Rainbows are still around to race against, if not you might start something down at Brighton.

I like the blend of old and new fittings.

Originally Posted by PAR

This arrogant diversity is what makes America work. It's difficult to understand from an outside perspective, even within at times, but it is why we manage to adjust and step forward. If you're a history buff, like me, then you might have noticed that America seems to rewrite itself every 10 to 12 years. We aren't entrenched in dogma for too long, before something changes it and we realign values. I think the best part is the diversity. Any and every walk of life, denomination, ethnic back ground, you name it, can and has made a significant contribution here. 80% of this country can trace their ancestry a couple of generations back to another country. So, if we are anything, we are the result of a pot luck dinner.

Sorry to continue off track but FWIW I agree and think you have presented the argument rather well. The only thing I would add is the arrogance your nation is often accused of naturally comes from power and wealth, it's hardly surprising plain old envy is masked by claims of arrogance.

I have traveled to the US and worked with many of your countrymen and other than the fact they talk funny and don't get all my jokes they generally take little training to become top blokes.

Despite what is often written I believe there exists widespread respect for what America has achieved even if it is sometimes begrudging and I do think we are patriotic down here we just don't want the government to find out or they will raise taxes.

Naturally, the wealthy make a big fuss and often we of the lesser classes, have to make amends to the damage they've done. It's a dream and hope of mine that I make it to your country some day, if for no other reason then to help you with the language difficulties you seem to have. Patriotism is a taxable liability in some countries, so watch yourself.

One last point about our arrogant ways. In eastern Europe trouble is brewing (again) and it's rather likely that NATO will not do what it's intended to do. The EU is powerless to accommodate as no one can agree on what to do. There are two sides, gearing up to on each others parades and someone has to stand between them so this doesn't happen. The UN doesn't ask publicly, because it would off to many that disagree with their assessments. Several countries would be happy to "intervene" as there's a potential for oil rights involved. So, of course in hushed voices, behind closed doors, the UN, the EU, NATO and several of the "usual suspects" are asking that we send troops to baby-sit these historic boneheads. Naturally, the world will yell and scream about a war mongering USA again, though the educated among those will softly breath a whisper if relief, because we'll eventually leave the area, very likely in much better shape economically and politically, while the other choices for the same duty would like impose a considerably different agenda on the region. This has been an ongoing "problem" for generations now for the USA. In the not to distant future the Chinese will insist this is now their role as the world leading economy, military, money lender and influence peddling, police force of the "new world order". I hope I'm not around to see it