Please select your home edition
Edition
Selden 2020 - LEADERBOARD

Fair Winds celebrates 60th at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week

by Lisa Ratcliff on 25 Aug 2016
2016 AHIRW - Fair Winds Andrea Francolini Photography http://www.afrancolini.com/
2016 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - Over the past decade the modernisation and expanding waterline length of boats competing at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week has been an obvious progression. In contrast the homebuilt and the classics among the glamourous production fleet and multiplying multihulls have become rarer sights.

There’s the historic pearl lugger Ruby Charlotte, the magnificent Sir Thomas Sopwith, which has graced the last couple of Race Weeks, and this year, Mark Chew’s Philip Rhodes designed 43-footer Fair Winds, which is celebrating its 60th birthday this year.

The timber classic, which lives in Victoria, was designed by one of the most underrated American designers from the 1930s-50s and built by Abeking and Rasmussen in Germany in 1956, where shipwright labour was cheaper than the USA.

Originally mahogany planks over oak frames, Chew replaced the planks on the outside to kauri. The internal structures are the original big bronze ring frames, which take the load, and portholes, gimballed timber fold-out table and timber lattice cupboard doors, for ventilation, are all genuine. As Chew says, “she’s massively built; big and solid”.

So far Audi Race Week has been a light air regatta and races like the one on Tuesday, in six - eight knots, are a nightmare for a boat of Fair Winds’ weight. “Trying to drag 14 tons around the course is really hard work,” Chew tells, “sunset was 5.54pm and we finished at 5.52pm…it was a little stressful but we got a result in the end.”

Fair Winds’ interior has a sweet aged wood smell and unlike many restored floating showpieces, it is a simple fit-out. There is no flat screen TV, dishwasher or coffee machine. “It’s very basic; we have one foot pump operated water tap, no heating, television or auto-helm. Very minimal, beautiful and comfortable,” Chew says.

Racing a boat of Fair Winds’ bulk requires a decent size crew and there is a tendency for the boat to fight the helm if the balance isn’t right. Chew says once the boat is balanced the helm can pretty much be let go and it will sail itself. If the balance is wrong “she really arcs up”.



Perceptions of owning a classic boat include endless upkeep, varnishing and dollars spent, but Chew believes it’s only expensive if the boat isn’t well used. “We are not precious about this boat; it’s for sailing and enjoying. The most important thing for us is the friends you sail with. It’s my boat but it’s not really, we are all looking after it.”

On the Race Week layday, Wednesday August 24, 2016, Fair Winds’ fourth only owner marked his boat’s 60th birthday with drinks and cake shared among sailing friends at the Hamilton Island marina.

Chew recalled the last time he was at Hamilton Island’s popular offshore regatta 12 years ago there was a separate classic boat division, something he’d love to see again.

“Having a cache of classic yachts would be great for the regatta; it would be a great new visual direction. We might speak to owners and try to give it a push…it would be really cool.”

For more information relating to AHIRW visit regatta website.

Allen Dynamic 40 FooterRooster 2025Switch One Design

Related Articles

Marine Auctions: Special July Online Auction
The bidding will end on Tuesday 22 July at 2pm AEST The alternative way of selling any type of vessel or marine asset with proven and successful results.
Posted today at 4:03 am
Transpac 2025 underway
Sixteen boats hit the line for the first start, departing LA for Hawaii Sixteen boats hit the line for the first start of three in the 2025 Transpac. Next stop: Hawaii.
Posted today at 1:13 am
GKSS Match Cup Sweden & Nordea Women's Trophy D2
A challenging southerly breeze and short three-lap course put teams to task A challenging southerly breeze and short three-lap course put teams to task on the second day of racing at the GKSS Match Cup Sweden and Nordea Women's Trophy in Marstrand, Sweden.
Posted on 1 Jul
Admiral's Cup 2025 | Interview with the CYCA Team
A highly experienced team for the revived Admiral's Cup regatta from July 17 The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia is fielding a highly experienced team for the revived Admiral's Cup regatta that will be run from Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the UK, from 17th July 2025.
Posted on 1 Jul
Australian Hobie Cat Nationals entries rolling in
With at least three World Champions already entered, the racing is sure to be exciting too! There is excitement in the air for the Pitts Design and Construction 53rd Australian Hobie Cat National Championships.
Posted on 1 Jul
Rolex TP52 Worlds in Cascais - Practice Day
Will Platoon Aviation's big breeze, big pressure experience prove key to their fourth world title? Of the three past and present world championship winning crews which completed their final practice today in typically muscular 25 knot breezes and big waves out of Cascais, Portugal it was Harm Müller-Spreer's Platoon Aviation which showed best today.
Posted on 1 Jul
Some thoughts on provisioning for distance sailing
A new perspective on provisioning and time spent at sea One of the great joys of distance racing unfurls the moment that the dock lines are untied. Suddenly, the myriad packing lists that inevitably define most trip-planning efforts become about as relevant as a tax return from eight years ago.
Posted on 1 Jul
LA28 sailing venue decision driven by politicians
The LA28 Olympic "dinghy" events will be sailed alongside a working container port. The decision to stage the Los Angeles "dinghy" events alongside a working container port appears to have been a determination by local politicians.
Posted on 1 Jul
Freestyle Pro Tour Paros day 3
The return of Super X Day 3 at the FPT Paros 2025 was a slower one - with a lay day with no wind anticipated and a late skippers meeting at 13:00 to assess the conditions, there wasn't much initially filling up the schedule.
Posted on 1 Jul
McIntyre Mini Globe Leg 2 update
The Mad Bastard may be right! When the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race set off—the first solo, non-stop circumnavigation—many thought it impossible. But one sailor proved them wrong: Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, sailing his beloved Suhaili!
Posted on 1 Jul