Vale Andrew Short

by Lisa Ratcliff on 16 Oct 2009 Andrew Short, 10 January 1961 – 10 October 2009

Andrew Short was born in Williamstown, Melbourne, on 10 January 1961, the third of four sons to Fred and Joan Short.

He was born into a fervent sailing family, commencing a 32 year affinity with the ocean racing International Cadets out of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria at age nine. He moved into OK dinghies before his first offshore race at the tender age of 14 crewing on the family’s 30 foot half-tonner Pajen.

Andrew went to school at Essendon Grammar and while he was a student cut his ocean racing teeth contesting all the long passage races out of Melbourne. In 1978 the family packed up and headed north to Sydney, sending their furniture by truck while they sailed into Port Hacking aboard their ocean racer Mary Blair, a Hood 42.

Three years later Fred opened a boat building business called SeaAluminium at Taren Point where Andrew worked for two years before branching out into retail, his dad’s boats the first product line he sold.

At 19 and with five years experience already behind him Andrew slipped easily into Sydney’s ocean-going ranks, joining his two older brothers Matthew and Ian aboard David and Michael Braham’s Kaufman 42 Mercedes IV for the 1980 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

This was the first of 15 bluewater classics he would contest both as the hired gun (although he’d never accept payment) and for the past six years as owner of the Volvo 60 djuice dragon, the Jutson 79 Brindabella and most recently, the Reichel Pugh 80 PriceWaterhouseCoopers (Shockwave 5).

Regarded as one of the best big boat helmsmen in fresh downwind conditions Andrew took the wheel of some of the country’s fastest yachts-come-sleighs including Innkeeper, Bobsled and Amazon, scoring line honours wins in the Sydney Mooloolaba, Pittwater to Coffs Harbour, Melbourne to Vanuatu, Brisbane to Gladstone and Gosford to Lord Howe Island races.

While he largely sailed for fun, Andrew, like most with salt water heritage, was highly competitive.

An accomplished J24 sailor, Andrew won four Australian Championships and three New South Wales Championships in the 1980s and for a time ventured into Sydney 38 and Farr 40 class racing.

The consummate family man, he had three sons with his first wife Karen; Ryan, now 20, Nicholas, 19, and Sam, 17.

Andrew married Kylie on New Year’s Day in 2000 (Ian vividly remembers the date because the brothers missed the Sydney Hobart that year). Their two children are Mitchell, 14, and Maddison, 8.

From 1982 and later with Kylie by his side, Andrew built Andrew Short Marine into one of the country’s largest marine retailers with three locations currently operating – Taren Point, The Spit and Yowie Bay. Andrew indulged his love of sailing regularly but he never missed a beat when it came to business.

On all his boats Andrew relied on an experienced core group of trusted friends and always had a crew spot free for his three beloved brothers, Matthew, Ian and Jonathon, and his own family, including his teenage sons who have been similarly stirred by their father’s love of the sea.

Andrew always freely gave encouragement and advice. He had a huge smile that would light up the bar and he was an unending contributor to the sport and to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, his yacht club since 1990.

‘Shorty’, as he was best-known, was dynamic, cool as ice under pressure, egoless, cheeky as they come and a good mate to so many.

He will be sorely missed.