Lifetime Achievement Awards - Bob Oatley and Bill Buckle honoured

by Jane Gordon on 5 Nov 2015 Lifelong friends Bob Oatley AO and Bill Buckle OAM will be honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their contribution to sailing at the Yachting Australia Awards in Sydney on Friday night.

Oatley and Buckle both started sailing as teenagers and at age 17 and 19 respectively, Bill and Bob formed what would become the Balmoral 12ft Sailing Club. The Club prospered and soon had a fleet of 15 12ft skiffs racing each year. Now called the Balmoral Sailing Club, it celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.

In 1967 Oatley joined Middle Harbour Yacht Club and began racing a Yachting World Diamond. His commercial activities however – the coffee industry in New Guinea and the development of the Rosemount wine business in the Hunter Valley – meant he couldn’t sail as often as he would have liked.

In 1983 he stepped back into sailing when he had John McConaghy build the original Wild Oats, one of the world’s first composite construction yachts. But it was in the early 2000s when the name Bob Oatley became recognised across the sport and the nation. He pioneered the canting keel concept into the Grand Prix level of ocean racing with his latest Wild Oats yacht. The yacht proved to be remarkably successful and as a result, it led to Oatley leading the Australian team into Cowes, England and winning the Admiral’s Cup, the world ocean racing team championship.

In 2005, he took the canting keel concept to the limit when he launched Wild Oats XI, a 30 metre supermaxi that is the most successful yacht in the 70 year history of the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. She has secured line honours on eight occasions in ten starts, won on corrected time on two occasions and twice broken the course record time.

While Oatley made waves in the wine business, Buckle also forged a successful career in the motor vehicle and motor racing industry.

When he re-entered the sport of sailing, it was in an impressive fashion. Buckle launched a 40ft light displacement sloop called ‘Buckle Up’. The yacht evolved as a consequence of his frustration with racing a classic 43ft sloop on Pittwater which was not fast enough downwind even with a taller rig and larger spinnakers. His sailing expertise and freewheeling mind resulted in the creation of a remarkable yacht that lived up to all his expectations.

The project also led to the development of a construction material that helped revolutionise the building of light displacement yachts around the world. He would later use a similar material to build a radical 50ft highly efficient wave-piercing power catamaran which could travel most economically at 24 knots when powered only by twin 230hp sterndrives.

It was Buckle’s foresight and drive that was the foundation for the success of the high performance Boatspeed 23 class. He saw the potential of the initial design and introduced it to the Australian sailing team.

Oatley and Buckle will receive their awards at the 2015 Yachting Australia Awards, taking place at Sydney’s Doltone House on Friday six November.