| Tony Hill | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Gender | Male |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Hometown | Sydney |
| Club | Middle Harbour Yacht Club |
Tony Hill
Commodore of Middle Harbour Yacht Club 1992 to 1995. This is Tony's history.
Early Years
My first boating experiences came at about the age of seven. Our family had a waterfront block on Tambourine Bay up the Lane Cove River and after lots of nagging my dad had a Sabot (minus sails) built by Dick Bonwick in Woolwich and I spent a lot of time rowing backwards and forwards on the river.
The family moved to a house in nearby Lucretia Avenue, and I continued the adventures out of a boatshed on Woodford Bay, this time with the full sailing rig.
As I reached my early teens I used to hang round the Lane Cove 12ft Sailing Club just absorbing the atmosphere each Saturday. Among those who befriended me was the well-known sailmaker Gary Fogg and he arranged for me to sail on a 16ft skiff sailed by David Molesworth out of Greenwich Club.
My own boats quickly followed the first being a VJ which I sailed out of Lane Cove Club followed by another which I built for myself at the age of fifteen. I also had a season in 12 footers sailing with Ian Hay (father of Noddy Hay) and Ross Hendy.
In early 1955 the family moved to Neutral Bay and my sailing had a different focus. I quickly found a bunch of new friends, many of whom remain in touch. Neutral Bay was where most of the Payne Mortlock Sailing Canoes were kept, and I quickly gravitated to crew for Chris Camamile on "Dawn".
After a season of this I moved with most of my Neutral Bay friends to Mosman Amateur Sailing Club where I remained active until 1973.
Minor successes followed in VJ's at club championship level, but I found my true level at interclub races when up against the likes of Bob Holmes and others. By this time, I was sailing the well-known former Australian Champion "Flying Dutchman".
My first introduction to ocean racing came during this time when I crewed on a number of long races with Jack Halliday on "Carol J" a lovely Sparkman and Stephens 40-footer.
I then moved to Gwen 12's, firstly in a Harold Lang Victorian built boat in then in a boat built by Ian Outhred. Some Club Championships and selection in State teams to National Championships were very satisfying.
1960/70s
In about 1962 the OK Dinghy was starting to make its presence felt and I encouraged Mosman Club to give them a go by signing up for one myself. It was a shell built by Richard Blundell of Tasmania which I finished off in a friend's garage. This was to lead to many happy seasons sailing the OKs only interrupted by one season sailing a Lightweight Sharpie.
A diversion from racing OKs was a trip in company with John Salmons and Dave Treglown sailing from Mosman to Newcastle. The trip took two days with a stopover in Terrigal where we slept on the floor of the Terrigal Sailing Club. A full account of this trip written by Dave Treglown was published in "chrOniKle" a collection of stories put together by Robert Deaves.
Success came slowly and the big breakthrough came in 1968 when I bought a Peden built boat from Robert Thompson and won the NSW Championship and the Interdominion Championship in the same season. Several successes followed and in 1973 I won the Interdominion Championship again in a Pamcraft built boat.
Among the OK highlights were trips to two World Championships, the first in New Zealand in 1970 and the second in England in 1973, finishing in the top twenty both times.
Immediately prior to the World championships in Falmouth, England my then wife Robyn and I joined another Australian OK sailor Jerry Firth and his family on a cruise of some weeks around the Baltic. It was the height of summer and in those latitudes, it never got dark.
OK Dinghy Pictures
C Class Cats
Not mentioned earlier was my stint sailing C Class Cats with my old friend Ian Outhred.
Not mentioned earlier was my stint sailing C Class Cats with my old friend Ian Outhred. This was taken on the last day of the trials at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron in Victoria which were held to select the Australian boat for the Little Americas Cup. We were outgunned by superior boats and crews.
MHYC |  My first keelboat being chased in a Middle Harbour race by Phil Susans. In 1973 I decided to step up to the big time by buying a Soling and joining Middle Harbour Yacht Club. Three years in Solings were unremarkable but I did enjoy racing against the likes of Jim Hardy, Andrew Spring, Kevin Winterbottom, Phil Susans and Max Gregory. The demands of a young family contributed to my next move which was to buy a new Hood 23 which was a big class at Middle Harbour along with Endeavour 24's and Triton 24's. While racing this boat many happy weekends and family Christmas holidays were spent on board. Our first Christmas was spent at Hardys Bay near where I now live. Racing was good and I secured three consecutive second placings in NSW Championships, the first being a cruel loss by a hairsbreadth to the famous John "Chocko" Winning. By now it was 1978 and time for another change. I bought a Cavalier 32 and raced with unremarkable results whilst racing a Laser at Balmoral Sailing Club. I then sailed a Compass 28 for John McGlinchey and was able to secure a season victory in the Club Championship. The Cavalier gave me a taste of offshore sailing when I cruised it south to Batemans Bay and out to Lord Howe Island. Around this time I was asked to co author a book with the late Jeff Toghill and "Start to Race" was published in 1982.  The famous "Mairzey Dotes". Always the bridesmaid we were second in three consecutive NSW Championships.  Cavalier 32 "Walrus". Not all that competitive but gave me a taste for ocean sailing with a cruise to Lord Howe in 1981. 1980s Adams 10sWhile this was all going on I saw the introduction of the Adams 10 class to Middle Harbour and I lusted after one, finally having "Hang Ten" built by Paul Kelly. I sailed her for eight seasons competitively but often against better sailors. In 1989 I had another Adams built and had two wonderful seasons in "Cold Comfort" winning the Gunboat Trophy both seasons. During my time sailing the Adams I had the chance to do a few offshore races sailing to Southport, Mooloolaba, Gladstone and Lord Howe Island with well-known Middle Harbour skippers such as Paul Kelly, Lindsay Rose, Alan Sweeney, Colin Montgomery, John Taylor and others.  Eight happy years sailing "Hang Ten" shown here leading the fleet at Lake Macquarie.  "Cold Comfort" was my second Adams 10 and we had two very successful seasons.  1991 Battle of the Media Race-Cold Comfort (MH3), Tony Hill  1991 Battle of the Media Race-Cold Comfort (MH3), Tony Hill  1991 Battle of the Media Race-Cold Comfort (MH3), Tony Hill Offshore Sailing "Singapore Girl" later renamed "Legend" was a beautiful Davidson 34 seen here shortly after the start of the 1992 Hobart Race and not long after we won the Lord Howe Race. It was time to take the plunge, so I bought the well-known Davidson 34 "Singapore Girl" from Peter Steigrad. She was a lovely boat and brought me some modest success including a third in the Mooloolaba race and a win in the Lord Howe race. The boat was chartered to Ed Nichols for another Mooloolaba race which he won. I think the design was about as good as they got in the IOR era. A new life's partner called for a new boat and Susan and I had an Adams 11.6 "Harlequin" built which was a really nice boat to sail for a couple of seasons. A nice interlude was to take Don Richardson's revolutionary new boat "Gelignite" to Mooloolaba in the race and then to cruise it north to Gladstone. I knew the boat well as I had sailed it in a winter MHYC series for Don. Ever since leaving classes like OK Dinghies and Adam 10's I had yearned for a return to one design sailing so my last foray in racing was to sail a J24 for a few seasons. I did about as well as I deserved but I would rather be beaten by better sailors in one design sailing than win because I had a better designer or more money. While I was sailing J24's I bought an old motor cruiser built by Bidgee Holmes and delivered it part of the way from Airlie Beach before completing the rest of the delivery by truck. There were good times, but nothing beats a true sailing boat. As age caught up with me I turned to cruising and bought a Phantom 40 which we cruised up and down the NSW coast and out to Middleton Reef and Lord Howe Island. It was a lovely boat and I would have been happy to sail her around the world. The only sailing since then has been charters in New Zealand, Croatia and Greece after which I retired to a small acreage on the Central Coast with many happy memories.
Singapore Girl/ Legend Photos4th Photo Singapore Girl's name changed to Legend. Back row: Peter Dally, Tony Hill, Howard Elliott, David Rooke Middle row: Jodie Poe, Sarah Ing Front: Gail Harland  3 Ports Race 1992 - Legend Tony Hill  3 Ports Race 1992 - Legend Tony Hill  3 Ports Race 1992 - Legend Tony Hill  From Tony Hill: Peter Dally following Legend's win in the 1992 Lord Howe Race I always maintained a keen interest in administration and over the years served on many committees and held many positions including serving as President or Commodore of the following:
When I retired as Middle Harbour Commodore the incoming Commodore Tig Thomas asked me to represent the Club at the YA of NSW which I did for several years serving as a member of the Council and several terms as Treasurer. As I look back it is not all that remarkable but my path in sailing provided me with many friendships and relationships which continue to this day. I hope when people remember me they will say "He was hard to beat". |