Impeccable owner lauds Classic Yacht Regatta community
The Sydney Hobart Classic Yacht Regatta (SHCYR) is a month away and the owner of the Doug Peterson designed Three Quarter Tonner Impeccable is excited to be on the start line again.
Ben Gray, a member of Sydney Amateur Sailing Club and part of the SHCYR regatta’s cross-club organising committee, bought Impeccable five years ago from the family of the late owner John Walker.
Impeccable raced in 25 Sydney Hobart Yacht Races with Walker on board for them all. The last being in 2008 with Walker, aged 86 at the time, becoming the oldest skipper in the race’s history to that point.
The yacht went close to winning the Tattersall Cup three times, finishing second Overall in 1986, third in 1993 and fifth in 2006. She twice won her division – 1986 and 1993.
Now Impeccable has been beautifully restored by Gray and shipwright Simon Clark and is a regular in the vibrant ‘classics community’.
“I’ve had a long affiliation with the Classics, and I sailed a lot with Nigel Stoke on Fidelis,” Gray explains.
“Nigel encouraged me to get involved in the development of the next range of more modern classics.
“The history and community around these yachts is fantastic and really, it’s all just part of the story, the tapestry of the Sydney Hobart.”
Entries are still open for the SHCYR (held at the CYCA from 11-13 December) and is open to yachts in two divisions:
Classics: any yacht that has a launch date prior to 1976 and has competed in a Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
Modern Classics: any yacht that has a launch date after 1975 and prior to 1996 that has competed in a Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
Gray says it is remarkable how much interest and joy the SHCYR brings.
“You have these races like the Grand Veterans Race (in May) and the Sydney Hobart Classic Yacht Regatta, and people stick their head out of the woodwork and tell a story about a Hobart they did on the boat 40 years or so ago,” Gray says.
“The events are sailed in such good spirit it’s fantastic and it is such a thrill to see all of those boats out on the harbour together.”