Doug has entered PICCOLO in the Australian Wooden Boat Festival 2025 in Hobart. Sadly he didn’t get to sail his beautiful yacht but the Derwent sailors will bring her up the river next February to honour Doug.

His Vee Jays were easily identified by their unique hull shape because Laurie took advantage of measurement tolerances and introduced a hull with a pronounced spring in the bow and a long straight planing run, which made his Jays unbeatable flying machines in a breeze and took full advantage of the newly introduced twin planks

Ben Marris, custodian of SAONA for the last 30 years was quietly spoken, self deprecating, and above all generous with his incredible knowledge and experience. I would be untue to say I knew him well. But we corresponded and shared stories around our boating overlaps, which alway made me smile.

Bob was the quintessential quiet achiever – no accolades or awards wanted or needed – and he was loved and revered by all who knew him.

The boat was holed and sunk, and Bill and Simonne took to a four-person coastal liferaft. This in the days when EPIRBs broadcast distress signals only on 121.5 MHz to passing aircraft. The couple christened their raft LAST CHANCE and ultimately survived on a diet of raw fish that Bill caught.

He’d shown himself to be one tough old bird by sailing his Dragon from Glandore across the Celtic Sea and the western approaches of the English Channel to Brest for one of Brittany’s many Festivals of Sail. Under the foredeck was a tightly packed heavy-duty plastic bag, and when Brest was finally reached in the inevitable sodden state, the bag was pulled out and carefully unpacked, and Captain Street stepped ashore in dry clothes including a dazzlingly white shirt with RORC tie, and a classic blue-black reefer jacket.

He knew his time was up – just couldn’t give up the ‘bungers’ – and lung cancer came calling. Passionate about life, he continued to live it with zest, right to the end. I last saw him in person at the Festival of Sails in Geelong last year. Despite his obvious illness, he’d been racing and was bagging out the opposition – loudly.

The first names that spring to mind when we think of Australian designers might be Lexcen, Paine, Bethwaite, Ward and Swanson, but perhaps Oughtred should also be near the top of this list given his profound influence at the grass roots of Australian sailing.

Despite two Olympics and becoming a world champion, his ultimate ambition remained victory in the America's Cup. After three failed attempts, Sir James finally tasted success in 1983 as back-up skipper for Australia II.

An upright, quietly spoken gentleman in a captain’s cap introduced himself, and without any hint of self-engrandisment, made it clear that he knew what he was talking about when it came to wooden boats.

From modest beginnings, never lacking family love, Bill found in himself a deep and abiding fascination for working with wood, primarily in helping to create some of the most famous yachts ever built in Australia.