Sailing yachtAustralia flagIMO 8676788

Sv James Craig

Last known position: Sydney, on October 25, 2026 at 03:01 UTC.

33.86820°S, 151.19970°E Destination Sydney

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Length72 m

Beam10.0 m

Draught3.9 m

FlagAustralia

This is Sv James Craig

James Craig is a three-masted, 19th-century iron-hulled barque restored and sailed by the Sydney Heritage Fleet, Sydney, Australia. She is one of only four pre-20th century barques in the world that still go regularly to sea.

History

Built in 1874 in Sunderland, England, by Bartram, Haswell, & Co., she was originally named Clan Macleod. Characterized by her biographer Jeff Toghill as a typical "workhorse barque," she was intended to be operated as economically as possible while carrying general cargo worldwide - coal, salt, grain and cotton goods. In her world travels she rounded Cape Horn twenty-three times in the twenty-six years to 1900. She made thirty-five voyages on the trans-Tasman run, to 1911. Like many other sailing ships of her modest size, she fell victim to the advance of steamships in the first decade of the twentieth century and in 1911 she was converted to a storage hulk in Port Moresby.

Restoration

Part of the inspiration for preserving James Craig has been credited to Karl Kortum, then director of the San Francisco Maritime Museum who had also been involved in encouraging Australians to preserve the similar-sized barque Polly Woodside in Melbourne in 1962. Restoration of James Craig began in 1972, when volunteers from the Lady Hopetoun and Port Jackson Marine Steam Museum (now the Sydney Heritage Fleet) refloated her and towed her to Hobart for initial repairs. Brought back to Sydney under tow in 1981, her hull was placed on a submersible pontoon to allow work on the hull restoration to proceed. Over the next twenty-five years, the vessel was restored. Most of the hull was replaced, being repaired by both paid craftspeople and volunteers.

Current situation

James Craig is currently berthed at Wharf 7 in Darling Harbour, near the Australian National Maritime Museum. She is open to the public, and takes passengers out sailing on Sydney Harbour and beyond. She is crewed by volunteers from the Sydney Heritage Fleet. Maintenance is by paid staff, contractors and volunteers. The ship has made historic return voyages to Hobart (2005, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2023 and 2025) and to Port Philip (Melbourne and Williamstown) in 2006, 2008 and 2020. The voyages to Hobart coincide with the Wooden Boat Festival, one of the largest in the world. In October 2013 James Craig participated in the International Fleet Review 2013 in Sydney, Australia.

Recently at sea

At 72 metres, she ranks #156 among the 2,393 yachts tracked by Yacht Tracker. Over the past 30 days she spent 2 days at sea, covering about 48 km. Yacht Tracker has been following her position since October 22, 2026.

Sources: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikidata.