Please select your home edition
Edition
Rooster 2025

Ngak Ngak's indigenous art connection - SMIRW

by Al Constable on 9 Sep 2008
Ngak Ngak. Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week Day 3 Sail-World.com /AUS http://www.sail-world.com

At the 2008 Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week, southern sailor Michelle Petrie has been helming in her first regatta aboard her dark blue hulled Beneteau 57 Ngak Ngak.

Ngak Ngak has finished second overall in the Cruising Non-Spinnaker division, a nice first up effort for Michelle.


Artist Ginger Reilly Munduwalawala painted the distinctive logo which has been emblazoned her side. The yacht’s name Ngak Ngak comes from the sound of the white-breasted sea eagle and is an indigenous name for that bird.

Michelle and her husband Hamish Petrie first came across Ginger’s work in a retrospective exhibition in the Victoria Gallery in Melbourne in 1977 and bought one of his pieces, which is hung on the boat.

The artist, Ginger Riley Munduwalawala* came from the coastal saltwater country of the Mara people. Born around 1937 at Ngukurr in the Northern Territory, Riley received his bush education and ritual instruction from his senior Mara relatives after his father died when he was just a child. He was very much a traditional man and believed his presence was confirmed by his ancestral myths and legends.

Ngak Ngak or the white breasted sea eagle appears regularly in Ginger’s work – either as a single or repeated image. Ginger believed the Ngak Ngak acted as a lookout watching over his mother country.

Michelle Petrie commented, ‘Sea Eagles are our favourite bird, we often see and hear them in the Whitsundays and right down as far as Pittwater, their call is a croaky Ngak Ngak.

'After the Magnetic Island series we are heading north to the Palm Island group, we’ve been told they are amongst the most picturesque in Australia, and we are hoping to see more Ngak Ngaks there.'

*Ginger Riley Munduwalawala was almost fifty before he began painting. Inspired after meeting the great watercolour artist Albert Manatjira, Riley realised the scenes and colours of his landscape could be captured in artworks.

In the late 1980's Riley returned to his home country and began to paint. In 1993 he won the First National Heritage Commission Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. In 1997 - 1998 Riley was awarded an Australian Council Fellowship and in 1997 the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, held a major retrospective of his work. Exhibits overseas included London and Cuba. Ginger Riley Munduwalawala died in 2002.

His paintings, bold and colourful in their presentation are highly regarded. Riley’s sense of colour distinguishes him from other indigenous Australian artists - he was called the 'Boss of Colour'.

About the white breasted sea eagle - Ngak Ngak.

The white breasted sea eagle is a bird of prey with a wing span sometimes exceeding 2 metres. It can weigh up to 4.5 kg. They are actually members of the kite family and snatch their prey from the surface or edge of the water. They are so powerful, that in flight, they can carry objects up to half their own weight. They can live up to 30 years.

Cyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTERRooster 2025Hyde Sails 2024 - One Design

Related Articles

Transat Paprec Day 18
48 Hours to Glory By Friday, the outcome of the Transat Paprec will be known. But who will have the final say? Who will seize the advantage, who will get stuck, who will claim an honorable finish, and who will be left disappointed?
Posted on 7 May
iQFOiL Youth & Junior International Games day 2
Heavy Rain Sets the Scene, But Racing Pushes On at Lake Garda Despite relentless rainfall, part of the day's race program went ahead as planned at the iQFOiL Youth & Junior International Games, hosted by Circolo Surf Torbole.
Posted on 7 May
XR 41 Dominates Debut at MaiOR 2025
FORMULA X Takes First Place in ORC A&B The northern European offshore racing season launched in spectacular fashion at the Mai Offshore Regatta (MaiOR) from 2 to 4 May 2025, and the spotlight was firmly on X-Yachts' latest high- performance model - the XR 41.
Posted on 7 May
Smeg's 29 years of 18ft Skiff sponsorship success
It all began when a Trevor Barnabas-led team raced a skiff named Omega Smeg-2UE The Smeg Australia 18ft skiff sponsorship with the Australian 18 footers League began in 1996-97 and has continued harmoniously, with many great successes, over the following twenty nine seasons on Sydney Harbour.
Posted on 7 May
Canada Ocean Racing Acquires Foiling IMOCA
For Scott Shawyer's Vendée Globe Campaign Canada Ocean Racing is proud to announce the acquisition of a current generation foiling IMOCA 60 - formerly known as Groupe Dubreuil and originally 11th Hour Racing - Malama.
Posted on 7 May
Bulwarks and Bulldust – new Vodcast Show launches
Join us as we pan for the gold dust, whilst sifting out the bulldust. Bulwarks and Bulldust looks at the serious subjects from inside the world of boating, but we don't take ourselves too seriously. The show covers off everything from Off The Beach to Superyachts, Powerboats to Ocean Racing, and the marine industry itself
Posted on 6 May
iQFOiL Youth & Junior International Games day 1
Unexpected breeze delivers a spectacular opening day of racing on Lake Garda The iQFOiL Youth & Junior International Games are officially under way in Torbole, Lake Garda, marking the second major event of the 2025 season for the U19/U17/U15 athletes of the iQFOiL Youth & Junior International Class.
Posted on 6 May
Transat Paprec Day 17
"An Atlantic Crossing with the Intensity of La Solitaire" They've proven that persistence pays off—even when faced with serious setbacks. Lola Billy and Corentin Horeau had to make a pit stop in Lisbon during the first week of the race to replace a damaged rudder.
Posted on 6 May
Night sailing, Transat Paprec, Congressional Cup
Night sailing, encountering light airs in the Transat Paprec, Congressional Cup We bundled up as the last of the rays sunlight dipped below the Olympic Mountains and night quietly fell on Puget Sound. We'd been racing for about twelve hours in the Seattle Yacht Club's Protection Island Race (April 26), and we were getting tired.
Posted on 6 May
Triple amputee passes halfway point of challenge
Craid Wood is more determined than ever, despite troubles during Pacific crossing Despite experiencing a number of technical issues with his boat, Craig Wood is now halfway through his sail with well over 4000 nautical miles done. He is feeling positive about reaching the finish line at Osaka in Japan in just over a months' time.
Posted on 6 May