There’s nothing Quixotic about this formula

by Peter Campbell on 31 Dec 2003 In a fleet of carbon fibre racers Thorry Gunnersen’s Tilting at Windmills stands out. One of only two timber boats in the fleet, the elegant 42 foot cruiser/racer, with her rounded topsides, long coachroof and deep cockpit is the epitome of wholesome, safe bluewater sailing.

The timber build is no real surprise. Gunnersen is Executive Chairman of the Gunnersen Timber company, which will celebrate 120 years in the business in 2004, and he will not have a boat that isn’t wooden.

And the yacht’s design philosophy is equally apparent when you talk to Thorry about his life at sea.

Gunnersen’s introduction to sailing was on his father’s cruising boat, the 36-foot transpacific schooner Tahoe. But growing up by Melbourne’s Port Philip Bay, well, it’s just not a great place to go cruising is it? To get a lot of use out of your boat you really need to race. So gradually, alongside the cruising bug, a racing bug grew in Gunnerson’s brain.

He started crewing for Peter Joubert, one of Australia’s premier marine architects of the 60’s and 70’s, on Joubert’s Magpie 34 Billabong. They did 5 Sydney-Hobarts together on Billabong. ‘I learned racing from Peter,’ Thorry says.

‘Peter used to say that cruisers have a sentimental attachment to boats while racers have a technical attachment. Peter taught me the technical skills.
‘I was imbued with Peter’s ideas about safety and the virtues a good boat should have.’


Gunnersen left Billabong to cruise and race his own Joubert design, Gumblossom, racing her in regattas around Australia and cruising her in New Zealand. In 1994 he had Joubert draw Tilting at Windmills for the 50th anniversary of the Sydney to Hobart.

In the horrendous 1998 race ‘Windmills’ was in her element. The big, strong boat was perfect for the gale force conditions, and carried Gunnersen to second place overall. Despite the ferocious conditions the only damage to the boat was a broken navigation light on her pulpit.

In 2000 he sailed the boat to Auckland for the America’s cup, and went there again in 2002 for the Louis Vuitton series and a five-week circumnavigation of the South Island.
Thorry simply loves both cruising and racing. ‘The race to a destination is the best thing. The cruise back is even better,’ he says enigmatically.

Like her owner, ‘Windmills’ straddles the cruiser racer divide too. ‘Real cruisers would rough it on our boat. Racers think it’s luxurious.
‘Wndmills just settles down to its work and does its job. She looks after her crew, and they get to the finish line fresh. I’m not into rock stars and hard gung-ho tough guys.’

It works on the racetrack apparently. Tilting at Windmills placed second overall this year, proving that 1998 was no one-off, behind another cruiser racer, albeit one designed and raced to a somewhat different philosophy. Oddly enough the pulpit nav light was the only thing on the boat that broke this year, too.

It will take about a day to swap the racing for the cruising sails, bolt the windlass back on, load up the extra chain and anchors. Then ‘Windmills’ will go cruising home.