Please select your home edition
Edition
C-Tech 2020 Tubes 728x90 TOP

Living large at Hamilton Island Race Week

by Crosbie Lorimer 22 Aug 2019 01:00 PDT 18-24 August 2019
Hamilton Island Race Week - Living Life in the Whitsundays at Race Week © Salty Dingo

You don't have to scratch far below the surface of the Hamilton Island Cruising classes at Hamilton Island Race Week to realise that it's unwise to draw comparisons between the speed and performance of these boats with the bluewater experience of the owners and crew who sail them.

No better example can be found than aboard the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron based Leopard 39 catamaran Living Life, which is racing in - and currently leading - Hamilton Island Multihull black division.

Living Life is an excellent cruising boat that can turn out a very credible performance on the racetrack when required, in fact the boat achieved a new top speed of 13 knots on the delivery to Hamilton Island, but its cruising pedigree belies the extensive racing experience of owner Gavin Webb.

Gavin started sailing in Townsville as a seven year old racing Sabots with his brother, soon turning in championship performances before moving on to 16ft skiffs, 505s and Etchells, teaching sailing and also racing yachts.

While Gavin's two sons, Jared and Bryce, both sailed dinghies at a young age they ended up becoming competitive swimmers. Along with Gavin's wife Rebecca, Bryce's partner Bec and family friend Leanda they have a very particular reason to be sailing with Gavin at Race Week.

In 2017 Gavin was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), a degenerative disease that sees two people being diagnosed and two people dying every day in Australia.

The first effects of MND vary greatly from one person to the next and for Gavin the initial phase has resulted in the loss of his voice. Instead, he uses a digital pad to communicate - and very quickly too.

"He's fast with his pad, but we end up trying to predict what he's going to say before he's finished" jests Jared. "We're getting pretty good at that, but we can never guess numbers!

"Thank goodness he's old school and can write a decent cursive script" adds Rebecca.

If the old sailing adage 'a quiet boat is a fast boat' is anything to go by then it's unsurprising that Living Life is leading her division after three races, with all communications from the self-dubbed 'silent skipper' made by hand signals from his elevated steering position to Bryce, who trims and relays the messages forward to Jared on the bow.

Faced with a terminal disease, Gavin is very clear about what matters to him most in life, scribbling one word on his pad... 'fun!'. And fun seems very much in evidence aboard the 'floating hotel' (as the 12-tonne multihull was nicknamed at Airlie Beach Race Week), combining some impressive results with plenty of creature comforts.

When joking about the differences in top speeds on Tuesday between Living Life and Karl Kwok's Mod 70 trimaran Beau Geste berthed next door, Gavin wrote "bet they weren't eating cheese toasties!"

With his arm movements becoming progressively more limited in range, Gavin expects he has another six months of fun sailing aboard Living Life, so he's leaving the boat in the Whitsundays after Race Week for a couple of months and will fly up with his family from their Brisbane home to cruise the boat as much as they can.

Despite the tough circumstances in which they find themselves, Gavin Webb and his family continue to honour the name of their boat and living life... to the full.

Click here for Channel 7 Brisbane story on Gavin and Living Life.

Full results available here.

For more information visit www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au.

Related Articles

39th Hamilton Island Race Week Comes to a Close
Match racing finishes pushing right to the end in multiple divisions The final day of on water action at Hamilton Island Race Week 2024 pushed all the way to the wire, with match racing finishes pushing right to the end in multiple divisions as placings remained in contention across all divisions. Posted on 25 Aug 2024
Women at the top at Hamilton Island Race Week 2024
Rhumb Runna competing in the Trailable Yacht Division, features an all female crew of locals The 39th Edition of Hamilton Island Race Week has marked an increase in female representation in key roles on boats, from skippers to navigators and plenty of female crew out on the water. Posted on 23 Aug 2024
Hamilton Island Race Week Prix d'Elegance
All styles and sizes on show ahead of day four racing Day four of racing started in style this morning with the annual Hamilton Island Race Week Prix d'Elegance. Posted on 22 Aug 2024
Hamilton Island Race Week 2024 Day 3
Nautilus Marine Insurance Classic creates Mini Maxi Match Race It was an early start for the IRC Divisions on day three of Hamilton Island Race Week, with the Nautilus Marine insurance Classic Long & Medium Races on the schedule commencing from 0915. Posted on 20 Aug 2024
Luck of the Irish at Hamilton Island Race Week
There is also a boat from Ireland, named Ri-Ra, skippered by brothers Hugh and Patrick Blaney Boats from all eight Australian states and territories, ranging in size from the 100ft Super Maxi 'Wild Thing 100' to the smallest yacht, a 20.6ft Sonata 6.3 'Norbert G' skippered by Ghigo Casalini. Posted on 19 Aug 2024
Hamilton Island Race Week 2024 Day 1
The 164 boats split into twelve divisions for racing Hamilton Island Race Week officially opened with a bang last night, marked with fireworks at the Nautilus Marine Insurance Yacht Owners and Skippers Welcome Cocktail Party. Posted on 18 Aug 2024
Camaraderie, chefs and champagne ahead for HIRW
Australia's most beloved winter sailing competition Hamilton Island Race Week 2024 is around the corner and southerners shivering through the winter season, are dreaming of warm days, exquisite chef dinners and joyful reunions, all set against the backdrop of Australia's most beloved sailing competition. Posted on 16 Aug 2024
Big entry for Hamilton Island Race Week
Entries for this year's Hamilton Island Race Week quickly reached capacity Entries for this year's Hamilton Island Race Week quickly reached capacity as Australian and international boat owners raced to register for the internationally acclaimed Whitsundays sailing series. Posted on 12 Jun 2024
Final Hamilton Island Race Week blast
A final race to the Molle Islands and back in trade winds up to 22 knots A final blast to the Molle Islands and back in trade winds up to 22 knots closed out the 38th Hamilton Island Race Week and decided the trophy winners in divisions where the top placings were still up for grabs. Posted on 26 Aug 2023
Hamilton Island Race Week - IRC Downhill Start
IRC classes and trailables start in Dent Passage Day Five at Hamilton Island Race Week saw the IRC classes and trailables start in Dent Passage. It was another fast downhill run for the starters in Dent Passage as they headed off in the Whitsunday Passage on another Island Race. Posted on 26 Aug 2023
Zhik 2024 DecemberCyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTERRS Sailing 2021 - FOOTER