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ePaper created 2014-06-11, 13:05:34 | version 1.30.01
91 early events were raced with 150% overlap genoas and Squadron poles and spinnakers and in a tight match race in fresh conditions the pressure was intense.One of the differences between crews was often the strength and power of the tailer and trimmer with the big genoas in a tacking duel and it was a standard tactic to endeavour to break a cover by physically grinding the opponents crew to a standstill. Our crew in that first event was star studded. Dick Deaver, Sir James Hardy, Ben Lexcen, Rod Davis, BJ (Dick’s partner) and Rex Innes-Jones at the mast. Sitting in the cockpit between races was an education in itself and I learned more about my own sailing waters and match racing in those chat sessions than at any time in my life before.Reading the water,the current lines,the pressure on the water, tide timing and reverses and when Ben got into gear there were heavy discussions about the reproductive cycles of clouds! He was an amazing and entertaining character.I recall our first days sailing together on JohnTaylor’s Paprika.Dick decided that the floppy rig set up was never going to work and would need to be tightened up all round. This was duly carried out and as you might have guessed,after an afternoon straight lining with some of the other boats,John was recalled to put the rig back where it was.There were many well known sailors who tried to re invent the Stewart 34 wheel. We went on to win that event and I then teamed up in later years to do five more events with Rod Davis and his team, In total we had two wins, two seconds and two unmentionables. The benefit all Kiwis gained from sailing with the likes of Dick and Rod are immeasurable and are testimony to the process of bringing the best in the world into our backyard and learning from them. There were many Kiwis skippers and crew who were able to get crew positions in the Citizen Series, many of them went on to do great things in other forms of the sport. For the likes of Chris Dickson, Graeme Woodroffe, Stu Brentnall, Russell Coutts, Tim Snedden and Brad Butterworth to name a few, and the dozens of crew the opportunity to learn the game sailing against the Cudmores, Islers and Perry’s of the Match Racing world would have been immeasurable. SomewonderfulMatchRacerscametotheCitizen.NameslikeHaroldCudmore,JohnBertrand,DenisDurgan,PeterIsler,Eddie Warden-Owen, Dave Perry and Peter Gilmour were all fearsome and skilful match racers and there were dozens more who were talented match racers, but too many to mention. There were also the greats who came to the event, maybe did not fare so well but were inspirational to all around them. The likes of Ted Turner, Paul Elvstrom and one Jock Sturrock who never sailed but who attended as special guest. When I look at the names who competed and are not yet mentioned it shows how popular and how competitive,how successful the Citizen was in the days when the sport was growing so quickly. Having become an active participant in the event and having my profile in the dowstairs bar raised it did not take very long for one CommodoreRoy“Pop”McDelltoknobblemeforGeneralCommitteeof R.N.Z.Y.SandbeforelongIwasrubbingshoulderswith those who had been at the forefront of the promotion of and involvement in Match Racing.Rob Green,RichardWoodyear-Smith and Don Brooke I recall were those with a keen interest in establishing an event as part of a circuit and of course Jack Alison. Being a part of the General Committee and the Match Race Committee was also a very steep learning curve. I don’t recall saying very much for the first two months. It was very establishment with the committee very set in their ways and plenty of tradition. But their were some very positive things happening in the Squadron with the One Ton Cup behind them, talk of Americas Cup, Admirals Cup, Whitbread and now the excitement of a Match Racing Circuit. The Citizen had rapidly gained a reputation as a top sailing event. There were a number of key ingredients in the development of the Citizen Match Racing event.Events like these don’t just happen but rather rely on the energy and input,vision and networking of enthusiastic people.The event was the brainchild of a number of people,probablymostnotably,BillMilleracompleteStewart34enthusiastwhohaddevelopedthemouldsfortheStewart34tobe built in GRP.There would have been many other names involved includingTony Bouzaid,DocWilliams,Peter Montgomery and the R.N.Z.Y.STeam,and of course,Warwick Brown of CitizenWatches.Much of the work being done in the Race Management area by the Squadron was ground breaking stuff and required countless hours of debate and fine tuning of sailing instructions, notices of race and protest hearings at least until thankfully the observers were pioneered in the New Zealand event.I am sure the many R.N.Z.Y.S officers will look back on those early days as being very hard work but also recognize that they played a valuable part in the development of match racing. Bill Miller’s and the association’s enthusiasm was catching and they generated a great deal of interest in resurrecting the GRP Stewart. I think I had Prion at the time, or thereabouts and so was totally caught up in the Stewart 34 culture. The new lay up for