Update She left a gaping V-shaped hole in our aft port topsides, about
2m across and probably 1.5m deep; plus plenty of damage across the deck and aft cockpit coamings. Luckily no one was injured. Jim Kilroy pretty rapidly hit the floor
while his son John Kilroy Jnr (John John), who was tending to the spinnaker sheets etc way up at the pointy end forward of the headstay, was thrown over the starboard side. At the same time our navigator, the late David (Fang) Kilponen,
had rushed aft away from Passage’s approaching bow and he was flung off the port side of our boat, entered the water on Passage’s starboard side and re-surfaced on her port side… We joked on the way home that Fang had actually jumped in so as to feature on the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald the following day. It was quite a big prang… and both of us retired on the spot.
Upon returning to the dock at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, a bunch of the press greeted us with all kinds of questions, including the one ‘who hit you?’ and – exactly as you quoted – I replied straight- away, ‘Swuzzlebubble, and she’s still in there’. Naturally it was tongue in cheek on the spur of the moment, as
New Zealand’s Swuzzlebubble was the talk of the town – one of the smallest boats in that year’s Southern Cross Cup series but sailed expertly and finishing way ahead of many boats much larger and higher rated than she was. The twist to this story (the photograph is also out there somewhere)
is that I was assigned to disposing of the day’s garbage, and when I took the bags to the designated disposal area behind the club I found an old discarded sign reading ‘This entrance for deliveries only’. Obvi- ously I brought it back (you would, wouldn’t you?) and Tink Chambers (then the mate on K3) and I hung it over the gaping hole. I can’t say the protest hearing was friendly, it wasn’t. However,
the jury ruled in our favour and from memory granted us average points for the race. The boat captain, the late Bruce Kendell, and our ‘permanent’ crewmembers worked through the night with a local shipwright and had everything patched up by next morning. Prior to the start of that year’s Hobart race a few days later crew member and ace New Zealand boat painter Wayne ‘Wrong-way’ Hurst (no relation of yours, I suspect…) had the repairs painted over. Just two years earlier Kialoa III had set the record for the Hobart
race (it stood for 21 years) and the year of this incident we also dusted off Windward Passage with brilliant crew-work at about 7am the morning after the start, after the Southerly Buster hit us when we had a slight lead on the fleet. We doused all ‘the laundry’ in a timely fashion, with the bow
pointing predominately south, while Windward Passage turned her bow north when their spinnaker backwinded against the headstay. That was the last we saw of them until they arrived hours behind us at Constitution Dock in Hobart. Thanks for the reminder of fun times sailing around the globe at the height of the IOR era.
PS: Remembering this story it brought to mind how many of those great friends and crewmembers on both Kialoa III and the majestic Windward Passage are no longer with us. Meantime, for those of us who started out in planked boats like the International 12 Square Metre sharpies, and progressed through plywood, GRP, Kevlar and carbon fibre materials, grasping what the younger generation are doing, flying sailboats above the water, is a bit hard to fathom these days (pun intended!) – but you guys have it all covered. So thanks and keep up the great work!
Seen outside the Paris Boat Show: we admit to initially responding with ‘yeah, right’. But we checked and we do indeed owe Antoine Albeau an apology as he really has won 24 (sic) different world titles out there in windsurfer world. Some are perhaps a bit below Olympic level but you really can’t blame a professional for pumping it all up to the max. ‘So bravo, Antoine, me old cock sparrow…’
18 SEAHORSE
l Wowza…Juan K, a lifelong favourite of this parish, now has as many as three new Imocas either in build or design development l Including…the first Imoca 60 drawn to the new ‘crewed’ rules l Life…has got interesting again in round-the-world land l Working title…The Ocean Race l And…it’s moving apace l The new…management are not hanging around l Nor are…the garçons and jeunes filles of Imoca l All are…keen to nail down the crewed Imoca rule asap l The…good news is they’re almost there l Kicking off… the World Sailing Olympic selection debacle (for that it is becoming) l Now shows…all the signs of going legal
q
l Dodgy…voting (allegedly but probably just a c*ck-up) l Dodgy…vote counting (just allegedly...) l Very dodgy…lobbying (unquestionably) l And stop blaming…the IOC l They…would have given you the Offshore Class we ourselves were lobbying for and the Finn l If only…the ‘personal prejudices’ had been kept under control l We await…with (great) interest l Entirely unnecessary…but wholesale change is obviously needed l Flipped…yes, she did l But since then…Paul Bieker’s lightweight ‘rad-cat’ Fujin has exceeded 32kt in practice for the Caribbean season l Lots…of cosy beds too l Yes no…The Fast40s are in one word: outstanding l But…the 100% dominance this year by one boat was unhelpful l However…there are frank discussions going on with the IRC rule managers to help the class redress the balance l Plus…the Rán design has been frozen for a while to stop the Eiger turning into Everest l Then again…for what that one incredibly superb raceboat cost our fag-packet calcs make it eight Figaro 3s l To also…race offshore l And…there’s the rub l Let…some Fast40s rip in longer races and watch as the punters’ heads swivel l You never know…who those punters are l Amazing boats…we need you to succeed l Not necessarily…a shoe-in for that Fig 3 for Paris 2024 l The fast…and keenly priced L30 one-design is also being seriously considered l Buckeroodles…of course it will come down to that (see Kicking Off above) l Always does…come down to that l Talking of…60 Fig 3s had been sold by the end of the Paris show l Awesome…list of talent lined up l Including…Desjoyeaux, Gautier, Jérémie Beyou and Loïck Peyron l Did you say…Loïck Peyron? l Naturellement…mon brave l Unstoppable…another big prize for Farr’s Cookson 50 design when Kuka won the RORC Transatlantic l Buy one…now (while stocks ‘last’) l Nailbiting… l Down to…950nm l VDH’s…Golden Globe lead before Xmas l Cruel…but fair (check out ‘Golden Globe barnacles’) l We still…back Don Mcintyre’s vision 100% l 2022…will be a lot wiser l Richer…New Zealand’s government is lobbing a further $22.5million into the AC infrastructure for 2021 l Lost…Cornelius Shields, crew on Cup-winner Columbia in 1958, and scion of one of the most famous of yacht design dynasties, passed away just before Christmas l Last minute…ie retrospective shopping… l It’s what it’s there for…
RaceboatsOnly.com l Grab…a Cookson 50 while you can l To see…what they do l There’s…
scuttlebutteurope.com
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