Please select your home edition
Edition
Cyclops Marine 2023 November - LEADERBOARD

Emeritus Professor Peter Numa Joubert AM dies at 91

by Peter Campbell on 18 Jul 2015
Emeritus Professor Peter Numa Joubert AM Peter Campbell
Emeritus Professor Peter Numa Joubert AM, who died on 13 July 2015, aged 91, was a man of many remarkable skills and achievements, ranging from being a distinguished academic and noted authority on fluid mechanics to being the only ‘amateur’ to design a Sydney Hobart Yacht Race overall winner.

A member of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia since 1973, Prof Joubert designed Zeus II, a Currawong 31 which won the 1981 Sydney Hobart, as well as other yachts that won their divisions of the ocean classic. Zeus II is still racing, aged 37, although now restricted to competing on Sydney Harbour.

He will be remembered as a designer of ocean racing and cruising yachts but perhaps more significantly for his role in offshore yachting safety and in road safety, including the design and mandatory installation and use of car seat belts.

An active sailor from the time he grew up in Sydney, Prof Joubert competed in 27 Sydney Hobart races, mostly skippering yachts of his own design which he named after Australian birds, including the Currawong 31 and Brolga 35. More than a hundred yachts have been built to his designs.

In 1993 he was awarded the CYCA Commodore’s Medal for outstanding seamanship after his year rescued eight survivors from a yacht that foundered at night in a strong gale during the Sydney Hobart. Peter survived the Sydney Hobart storm of 1998, although his yacht capsized, but later righted itself.

He also received a medal in the Order of Australia in 1996 for his contribution on road and yacht safety and in 2009 was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for research the field of fluid mechanics, particularly in relation to submarine design and education.

While yacht design was more a sideline to his major research in mechanical engineering, he was a member of the Institute of Naval Architects and authored more than ten papers in the Journal of Ship Research. These included investigations of the forces caused by slamming impact on yacht hulls.

Peter and I had been friends for more than 35 years and as a sometime crewman on one of his Currawong 31s, Lollipop (fourth overall in the Sydney Hobart in 1977 and beaten only by three maxi yachts). We enjoyed many discussions on yacht design and construction and crew safety rules over the years.

Last year, then living in retirement in the Melbourne suburb of Kew, Peter sent me a copy of a book he had written about yet another chapter in his life – as a young RAAF fighter pilot on active duty in New Guinea during World War II.

It gave me a fascinating insight into his early years, including details of a flying accident that led into him into research on seat belts for road safety and also safety harnesses for yachtsmen racing offshore.

Before graduating to more advanced fighter aircraft, Peter was flying a Tiger Moth biplane when the aircraft flipped as it landed, leaving him hanging upside down in his pilot’s harness.

“I landed a fraction short and the plane slowly tipped over crunch,” he recalled. “I’m hanging in my straps with my head about a foot from the ground, and I would have poled my head into the ground. I would have been a quadriplegic.”

It was a powerful lesson in the life-saving value of a seatbelt; one he would never forget.

Unquestionably, Peter’s later research and passionate drive to have government’s introduce mandatory laws on seat belt that saved many Australians their lives in road accidents.

When the war ended, Peter benefitted from a training course that allowed him to finish his matriculation and then undertake engineering at Sydney University. His academic and research would lead him to becoming Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Melbourne.

He retired in 1989 but continued his work as Emeritius Professor at the University, including a study of separating flow about a submarine hull when engaging in a turning manoeuvre, and advising the Department of Defence and senior Naval officers on hull shapes for the RAN’s submarines.

When I last spoke to Peter, he invited me to join him for lunch at the Melbourne Club “next time you are in Melbourne.” Sadly, we never got together for that lunch.
Rolly Tasker Sails 2023 FOOTERExcess CatamaransVaikobi Custom Teamwear

Related Articles

Cure Marine and McConaghy join forces
Leveraging McConaghy's world-class manufacturing and advanced composite technology Cure Marine has always been synonymous with high-quality, high-performance cruising catamarans, and we are excited to share news that will elevate our brand even further.
Posted today at 5:45 pm
52 Super Series 2025 Porto Cervo day 2
Immaculate Sled on song in breezy Sardinia With a race win which they delivered with a near perfect execution in brisk Mistral conditions, Takashi Okura's Sled today moved further ahead at the top of the leaderboard at the 52 SUPER SERIES Porto Cervo Range Rover regatta on Costa Smeralda.
Posted today at 3:34 pm
The latest in fleet monitoring and tracking
Join us on October 22nd for an in-depth exploration of the latest in tracking technology Fleet monitoring and tracking are essential for efficiency, safety, and compliance with real-time visibility into fleet movements critical.
Posted today at 9:30 am
Record fleet set for 13ft Skiff 2026 Championships
The biggest fleet in the event's history is set to line up in January The pain of handing over the national 13ft crown after owning it for a year is driving Manly's Theo Franklin to recapture the title when the biggest fleet in the event's history lines up for the 2026 Australian Championships in January.
Posted today at 5:29 am
2025 Six Metre World Championship Day 2
Eau Vive and Jill claim first victories in Oyster Bay After the disappointment of a wind and raceless day one, the 2025 International Six Metre World Championships at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club finally got under way in warm sunshine and a south-westerly of around 6-8 knots.
Posted today at 3:23 am
46th Cannes Royal Regatta day 2
A dream day! If we had to give a score for the entry of the "classic " and 5.5 m on Tuesday 23 September, we would hesitate between an 18 and 19/20... knowing that you never put a 20/20!
Posted on 23 Sep
Middle Sea Race set to attract exceptional fleet
Royal Malta YC has 118 entries already At midnight on Friday, 19 September the 46th Rolex Middle Sea Race had amassed a fleet of 118 yachts. The entrants represent 30 countries and territories: from Australia and New Zealand to Finland and Norway, and from the United States to Romania.
Posted on 23 Sep
52 Super Series 2025 Porto Cervo day 1
Solid Sled earn early lead in Sardinia Takashi Okura's Sled lead the 52 SUPER SERIES - Porto Cervo - Range Rover regatta after the first two windward leeward races.
Posted on 23 Sep
Melges 24 Worlds 2025 at Trieste, Italy Day 1
No racing possible on the first day Good things are worth waiting for, and that was the adage at the opening day of the Melges 24 Worlds, which ended without any races in the scoreline. The weather in Trieste proved too unstable, with storms in the morning followed by a lack of wind.
Posted on 23 Sep
Formula Kite Worlds Quartu Sant'Elena preview
9th Sardinia Grand Slam is the first major step towards Los Angeles 2028 Next September 28th to October 5th, the Poetto beach will host the event that crowns the new World Champions. Among the top contenders: Maeder, Vodišek, and Pianosi in the men's fleet; Nolot, Aldridge, and Kampman among women
Posted on 23 Sep