My Folding Catamaran

VELA a Woods Gypsy 28' catamaran

Greetings all. I've been trolling through some of these older posts about the Woods Gypsy and was delighted to find this post about my boat, Vela. I purchased Vela in March 2012 in Brisbane and having been having fun with her ever since.

This Gypsy was launched in 1996, and may have been the first one home built in Australia. The builder, Lachlan (Lochlan) Wilson, went out on a wing and built the hulls out of hand laid fibreglass panels. Very Solid!

The result is an overbuilt, but very strong and forgiving little cat which sails beautifully. Vela drives well to windward, and is responsive without being skittish. It has cruised the Queensland Coast and served as a liveaboard for myself & my partner, with our little dog and ship's cat.

I'm on the handstand now for the second time, and am pleased to report there has been no osmosis in the boat to date. I've done one or two repairs and am in the process of doing upgrades and improving the paint system. Will post photos shortly.

If anyone has any more info on this boat I would love to hear about it.

Meanwhile, here is a photo taken by a friend of me and Vela riding out the Australia Day 2013 front, which we fondly refer to as "ex cyclone Oswald." We were on anchor in front of the Versace Hotel on the Gold Coast Broadwater.