Ileola Sailing - Whitsundays

In 1946 the American boating magazine Rudder published details of a rugged, narrow beamed, three-masted schooner.

Halfway across the world, a 39 year old Geelong grocer, Geoff Wood, saw the design and liked what he saw. It was, he decided "a lot of yacht for your money".

On a vacant block in Fyans Street, Chilwell, he began the construction of the world`s first Marco Polo, which he called ‘Ile Ola’. It was the start of love affair that has lasted 44 years and covered well over 600,000 sea miles.

When Herreshoff drew out the lines of his Marco Polo, he had in mind a strong comfortable and sea kindly boat with an easily handled spread of sail. Double-ended with a hull length of 16 meters, he gave her a long water line length of 15 meters, a narrow beam of 3 meters and a 2 meter draft.

From the year of her launching, 'Ile Ola' has cruised the ocean waters of south-eastern Australia and the western Pacific with unfailing regularity. By 1990, her outstanding record of ocean races stood as follows:

Sydney-Hobart: 1
Sydney-Noumea: 9
Melbourne-Devonport: 17
Sydney-Vanuatu: 2
Melbourne-Hobart: 16 of the 23 races
Sydney-Fiji: 3.