2:15 PM Thu 8 Apr 2010 GMT
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'The late Dr John Musgrove'
Peter Campbell ©
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The Varuna Trophy, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron's traditional end-of-season handicap race between the top-performing boats in each mixed division and one-design class, will have a special meaning for many competitors this year.
The Varuna Trophy, to be sailed on Sydney Harbour on Saturday, commemorates the classic wooden yacht, after whom the trophy is named, but also that gentleman yachtsman Dr John Musgrove who passed away in early March.
'Doctor John,' a mentor to many up and coming Sydney sailors, be they in his crew or sailing on rival yachts with the Squadron or the Amateurs, had been a member of the RSYS since 1946.
The Varuna Trophy was presented to the Squadron by members of Varuna's crew, with many of his racing rivals also contributing to its cost, without the prior knowledge of the skipper and has become one of the most prestigious events on the Squadron's summer calendar.
'Doctor John' celebrated his 80th birthday in March 2004 with a magnificent double win with Varuna in Division 3 of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron's Harbour racing on the previous Saturday. Varuna went on to win the Main Series pointscore, one of many victories over her years as the Musgrove family yacht.
Always distinctively dressed in his sailing whites and skipper's cap, 'Doctor John' had maintained the timber-built Varuna in immaculate condition since returning from War II.
Legend has it that his father brought Varuna alongside the troopship as it entered Sydney Harbour and a young John stepped straight aboard and went sailing - a tradition he kept up for another 64 years.
The 32-footer was designed and built by Billy Fisher in 1934, with her hull of Huon Pine and her deck structure of Indian Teak. She still has her original holder Oregon pine mast.
A fleet of twenty boats are eligible for Saturday's Varuna Trophy, ranging from the Yngling Troika (Ruth McCance and Frederico Lauro) and the Division 4 boat, Hornblower (Peter Campbell and Steve Sweeney) to the International Etchells Bushfire (Jervis Tilley) and the 60-foot Division 1 racer Sydney (Charles Curran).
All twenty have won a division of the Squadron's summer racing calendar for 2009-2010 and will race under performance handicaps over a course that will finish off the Squadron at Kirribilli.
by Peter Campbell
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Maatsuyker Island, TAS
