The Romance of Australia's Windjammers

Majestic windjammers traversed the world's oceans from the 1880s. These tall square-rigged sailing ships of iron and steel arrived in South Australia in great numbers till the late 1940s to collect grain grown in South Australia. Their annual Great Grain Races back to Europe, sailing via Cape Horn, were the stuff of legends, creating enormous interest in Australia, Great Britain and beyond.

This story of the last eventful years of cargo-carrying sailing ships is a part of Australia's modern history. The windjammers featured were individuals in their own right; sailing them not only demanded knowledge handed down by generations of sailors of the square-rigged ships, but a knowledge of the peculiarities inherent in each ship - their ship. You will meet the people, from many walks of life, from factory hands to the privileged, determined, for once in their lives, to take a risk and be a part of something greater than themselves. Most are women, diary keepers, writers and social climbers.

They were romantics at heart and sometimes, as we will see, romance found them.