Rob Legg Day at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron - A huge success
by Darryn Dyer 31 Jan 2019 03:47 PST
6 January 2019
Rob Legg Day participants assemble for a snap shot after the Sail Past © Jenny Buckley
On the 6th January the RL24 Owners Association of Australia Inc. conducted a special 'Rob Legg Day' celebration to honour Rob Legg's 90th birthday. Rob's yacht designs were revolutionary and he's had huge input into sailing and trailable yachts in Australia.
This event was the opener to the 46th RL24 National Championships and consisted of a sail past and afternoon celebration for all Rob Legg Yacht owners, crews and families. RL sailors from the past and present gathered to honour the achievements of this great man.
Rob Legg and his family were present at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron for celebrations along with approximately 100 other RL fans. Twenty five boats took part in the sail past which included a good fleet of RL24's as well RL28's and RL 34's and a recently refurbished RL8 called "Beyond 2000", a one off sports boat that Rob designed and built after he retired.
Boats were decorated in a number of fun different themes for the occasion, some sailed and some motored past the RQYS Board Walk before the Legg family and around 100 spectators.
A large number of the boats taking part were 40 years old plus, some in original survivor condition with original gel coat and mast setups, others that had been completely refurbished to better than new condition and are now being looked after almost as a show piece. Both Rob and many past RL sailors were delighted by the passion displayed by the owners of these vessels and the care put into restorations.
Rob provided this response shortly after the event.
Thank you all that attended the sail past on Sunday 6th January at RQYS, I had a wonderful day, and it was great to meet up again with the old RL24 sailors from the past as well as the current owners and crews.
I had a great time and now have a lot to remember for the rest of my life. It is a long time since I have been among such a happy and well behaved crowd. I think that the RL24 owners are the nicest lot of people that I have ever come across.
I must apologise to all those whom I would have liked to spend more time with, but time ran out.
It was amazing the way so many boats looked to be in new condition when I could tell by the sail numbers that some were in fact over forty years old, the owners must truly love their boats to take such care.
I was surprised to see some of the 28s and 34s there too.
Thank you to all members of the RL24 association for having organised such a successful day.
Rob Legg became a keen yachtsman from an early age and started his working life as a sailmaker and shortly after, turned to boat building, he just loved designing, building, and sailing boats.
Rob had a huge input into early fibreglass trailer-sailer design in Australia through the very popular RL24, then the RL28 and RL34.
The ongoing popularity of these classes is Rob's main achievement. What is also truly amazing is the number of boats he built and how the designs were created over the years. The "RL story" is on the Rob Legg Yachts website.
The RL24 Owners Association of Australia Inc. wish to thank Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron for their assistance in hosting this fantastic event. rqys.com.au
Elliott Automation supported the delicious event catering: elliott-automation.com.au
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