18ft Skiffs: Kevin Wadham, multi class sailing star
by Frank Quealey 12 Nov 2024 22:10 PST
The period from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s was one of the greatest, probably the greatest, periods of racing in the 132-year history of 18 footer racing in Australia and New Zealand, and produced some of the greatest competitors and designers ever involved in the highly-competitive class.
The quality was so outstanding during the 15-year period that multiple World Championship-winning skippers Peter Sorensen, Rob Brown and Trevor Barnabas took between six and nine years (respectively) before winning their first worlds title.
Competition was so intense that even David Porter (KB), the 'King of Sydney Harbour' in the 1970s could only win one world title to go with his six national championship victories. He had to be satisfied with being runner-up five times to the likes of Australians Bob Holmes, Stephen Kulmar and Iain Murray as well as Terry McDell from New Zealand.
Even the legendry John 'Woody' Winning had to wait two decades before winning his first Giltinan World Championship after being runner-up to Iain Murray and his incredible Color 7 team in 1980 and 1981.
Among other potential champions who just missed out on the ultimate 18 footer winners list was Kevin Wadham, who only competed for three seasons as skipper of the Lysaght Colorbond team, yet managed to take the previously unbeatable Color 7 crew combination to the final race of the seven-race 1982 World Championship on Sydney Harbour.
The following season, his Lysaght Colorbond team was again runner-up, this time to Peter Sorensen's Tia Maria.
As several had done before him during the 1970s, Wadham came to the 18s in the 1981-82 season after winning the 1978-79 Australian 12ft skiff Championship (with Grant Podmore) and the 1980-81 Interdominion Championship, with Dave Hodgson, and had a 'pedigree' of someone likely to test the very best in the class.
Kevin did his sail making apprenticeship with Hugh Treharne (Blue Peter Sails) and helped make many 18' skiff sails, including some for Thomas Cameron, which Hugh skippered to victory in 1970.
In 1975 he started Speed Sails with Andrew Buckland and Jamie Wilmot, but left in 1976 to start his own "Sails by Wadham" brand. He started sailing 12' skiffs and specialized in sails for the 12's and VJs, with his sails winning several state and national Championships.
In 1979 Kevin partnered with another 12ft skiff Interdominion and Australian champion Michael Coxon to form "Coxon Wadham Sails" and actually had his very first sail on an 18' skiff, when he filled in on the bow in KB, which Michael Coxon was then sailing under that sponsorship.
One year later, Michael joined North Sails and Kevin joined Hood, but a further year later he left Hood to "concentrate on designing and making windsurf sails as the sport was growing like crazy and was changing very fast with short boards and extreme wave sailing literally taking off. I designed and oversaw the production of specialist wave sails, which were branded Bombora."
After winning the 1980-81 Interdominion, Kevin went to the USA with an all-star Australian 18 footer team to sail as sheet hand on Lysaght Colorbond, which was skippered by Pakhtun Shah, with the idea that he would sail sheet during the 1981-82 Australian season, as an introduction to the 18s.
Kevin recalls, "I was very lucky, between July and September the plan changed and I became the skipper."
"The very experienced and excellent 18ft skiff sailor, Jay Harrison became the sheet hand and one of Australia's best windsurfers, Tom Luedecke (a great sailor and strong as an ox) sailed in the bow."
"Importantly, I had a boat designed and made by Iain Murray, rigged by Don Buckley with sails designed by Andrew Buckland. I believe this was the first time those three guys put together a total package for anyone other than for their own Color 7. All of these things combined meant I had a dream transition from 12' skiffs into the 18s."
"As you'd expect at the start of the season we were nothing special, but by the time the JJ Giltinan Championships came around it was all coming together."
"For the JJ's had Phil Woolf joined for the team's on-land support. We had four rigs and with the help of 'Woolfie' we could rig the boat in 15 minutes. There were several days that Color 7 and Colorbond NSW were on their side leaving the final rig choice to the last minute while other teams were already getting into the water."
Kevin recalls, "Our boat was a little bit wider than Color 7 and our rigs just a bit taller."
"We did well in a couple of early races in the series then a story that did the rounds was that Color 7 made a new taller second rig on the lay day. I'm not sure if that was true or maybe just a story to try and put us off our game."
Wadham's Lysaght Colorbond NSW team was in second place and, going into the final race of the 1982 World Championship, needed to finish in first or second place and have three placings between them and Iain Murray's Color 7 team to take the title.
According to a newspaper report following the race, "Wadham's team was blanketed at the start which put paid to any hopes they had." Adding, "The team sailed well to make up lost ground but the leaders had too much of a break."
"The race report was that, "The race started in a 10-12 knots southerly with Chesty Bond getting the best of it, but Color 7 and Mitchell Cotts worked their way clear and began to fight it out in a race all their own."
"Color 7 moved ahead as the breeze freshened but on the work to the finish,. The breeze died and the lighter if got the better Mitchell Cotts liked it."
"Mitchell Cotts, skippered by John Winning, won the race by 1m48s from Color 7, with Tia Maria a further 1m14s back and Lysaght Colorbond NSW another 36s back fourth."
"The final points were Color 7 on 11.7, followed by Lysaght Colorbond NSW on 22.7 and Tia Maria, in third place, on 30.4 points."
Kevin recalls, "It's funny the things that stick with you. After that last race, Iain's mother came up to me to congratulate me on coming 2nd, but admitted to being happy that I didn't beat Iain and become the second person to win the championship in their first season - like Iain had done six years earlier."
Iain Murray was reported, in a Sydney daily newspaper, as indicating that Kevin Wadham was a potential world champion, saying, "He'll be the one to beat next year". He believed that Sorensen and Winning would be his toughest rivals.
Kevin, commenting on the following two seasons, "In 1982-83, Jay sailed with me again on sheet with Don Buckley, from the Color 7 crew, in the bow."
"We made the mistake of winning the worlds Invitation Race, which all sailors know is the kiss of death. This time finishing 2nd overall to Tia Mia, skippered by Peter Sorensen."
As for his last season in the 18s, Kevin recalled, "In 1983-84 we were not fast and that season is best forgotten."
"It was a bit of a transition season when all boats changed from having normal spinnaker poles to retractable bowsprits."
"In hindsight, it was a mistake to not get a new boat when we retro fitted a retractable pole into the previous season's boat. We also had a crew change with Derek Adams replacing Jay Harrison on the sheet. Derek was a very successful 12ft skiff skipper and this was being used as his intro into the 18s as a future skipper of Colorbond in the following season."
Summing up, Kevin says, "There is a very true saying that no one remembers who came 2nd", to which I have added, except for the actual person who came 2nd". I was happy to come a very close 2nd to Color 7 in my first season, but very disappointed to be the brides maid again the following season."
"I can joke about it now, telling anyone who enquires about my 18ft skiff sailing, telling them I'm famous for not being remembered as the last skipper to come second to Iain Murray and the first to come second to Peter Sorensen."
"I look back fondly to my 12ft and 18ft skiff sailing. They are not easy boats to sail, especially to sail them well. I was very lucky to sail with some great crew and it was always great fun. Occasionally we did OK too."
Kevin was more than a champion skiff sailor.
In 1977 he was a member of the first Australian Team to compete in the Windsurfer Worlds and was the best Aussie coming 3rd in slalom and 5th in course racing in a fleet of more than 200 competitors.
After moving to Hong Kong in 1984, to work for a windsurf sail making company, Gaastra Sails as head of Research & Development, he stopped sailing until he came back to Sydney in 1990, and was so busy with his windsurfing business, and a young son, had no time for boat sailing.
"It wasn't until, "In 1997 I sailed a bit with a mate who owned a Farr 40 that fired up my interest in boat sailing, but yachting was a bit too tame for me. I thought about a return to 18s but again I was too busy with work and family to make a proper commitment to it."
"So I bought a Tasar and sailed it with my wife Yvonne who had never sailed before. Tasars are skiff like in their handling, but easy for a husband and wife team to sail and very low maintenance. I was competitive for two hours every Saturday in summer but beyond that gave it no further thought or time until Yvonne retired about 5 years ago."
"Once again I looked at options, all single handed as I was now retired and wanted total flexibility to sail whenever I wanted. I was kitesurfing and wing foiling, but I needed something competitive."
"At the time the very original windsurfer was updated with new design and materials, so I borrowed one and got hooked. It was a Back to the Future for me competing again on Windsurfer."
"I've been surprised how seriously competitive I have become. Over the last three years I have sailed in multiple interclub and state Championships, two Australian and a World Championship."
"I finish roughly in the top third at most regattas, and at the Worlds in Perth last Christmas came 21st out of 64 competitors in my weight group. While I'm still striving to improve, I'm also pretty happy as I'm competing against all ages and no one older than me ever beats me. I take that as a win."
"I also take it as a win that I'm 69 and still out there having fun."
Next Sunday the Australian 18 Footers League will conduct Race 3 of the Club Championship.
Race 5 of the Sixt Spring Championship will be sailed in conjunction with the Club championship and the club's spectator ferry will follow the race, leaving Double Bay Public Wharf at 2pm.