Young guys, Old Boats - a recipe for success

By Sal Balharrie

Wednesday Twilight Racing on a new age of D’s - Kettering, Tasmania
Photo by Oliver McKay

John Brown suggested it - a round up of the D Boys. I was curious, how is it that this group of kids from Kettering, or there abouts, has jumped on board the Derwent Class? Not as crew, but as custodians. Fully engaged, fully into it and loving their D’s.

It took a couple of weeks to organise, but we did it. Thanks to John we found ourselves on Zoom. Lockie custodian of PIM was first to join, it being his first Zoom call, he was excited. Then Ryan of PERI, followed by brothers Ollie McKay of JANUS and Gus McKay of GOBLIN. The conversation took off and then was wrapping up when Nelson Brown of GNOME jumped online to take us home. If there was one thing I took away from this convo it was the sheer delight of sailing a boat with your mates, on a regular basis.

The resurgence of the D Class is a masterclass in what it takes to ensure the future of a fleet. I hope you enjoy listening to this wonderful conversation as much as I did making it.