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The IOR Maxi fleet racing in St Thomas in 1988. They didn’t slip through the water anything like as quickly as today’s Maxi 72 equivalents, but like the 12 Metres before them the sheer weight and power of these 85ft leadmines demanded enormous physical effort from the middle of the boat and enormous commitment from the afterguard. There were no quick ducks or last-minute tacks; everything happened more slowly than today and for that very reason mistakes were harder to recover from – find a private puff and maybe your boatspeed went up by a tenth or two…


End of an era


The recent passing of Kialoa campaigner and real estate mogul Jim Kilroy at the age of 94 was poignant – and for many different reasons


The passing of Jim Kilroy has brought the era of owner-driven and managed offshore big boat racing back into a long-lens focus not readily appreciated amid all the excite- ment about high-speed runs on cats, foils and other such modern sailing projectiles, both around the buoys and across the seas. Kilroy’s trajectory through the sport


was in an era of slower speeds, where offshore races and passages were still measured in days and not hours, and on boats that were not so light to worry about their strength but instead the tests of strength endured by the crews through


32 SEAHORSE


thick and thin. Boats participated in races regardless of the weather, when competi- tive achievement was measured more than just in elapsed time but also in recognition of the seamanship and cleverness needed to get across a bay or an ocean safely while pushing boat and crew to their limits. These were not easy times: the boats, sails and spars in Maxi racing were heavy and heavily loaded, requiring both the expertise and the equipment needed to handle loads that could reach awe-inspir- ing levels. Large diameter, often fraying wire sheets, guys and halyards demanded respect. Mishandling, miscalculation or just plain bad luck could result in break- age, injury or worse.


Yet in the early days the crews were mostly amateur, chosen for their avail - ability, experience, strength and ability to get along and work with others. They were invited based on recommendations of peers, or sometimes by circumstance when needed. Hierarchies between the


afterguard, the middle of the boat and the foredeck team were absolute, without much cross-over due to the special skills needed in each arena.


Kilroy was firm in his policy of being loyal and taking care of his crew once they arrived at a regatta venue, but rarely paying pros for sailing. He looked after a core group of mixed nationalities who took care of his boats full time, both while racing and on the long deliveries made between races. Some of the stories of the passages made in that era became the stuff of legend. And while he didn’t pay the bulk of his crew, he did have a rule: ‘sail with Jim Kilroy for up to two years. If you haven’t found a real job by then you are off the boat. Why? Because this isn’t a career and I won’t be responsible for a young man’s life not working out because of sailing.’ The Maxis of the 1970s and early 1980s were also designed to traverse the great ocean courses in pursuit of elapsed time records, not just awaiting favourable


GUY GURNEY


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