The Man Who Revolutionised 18-Footer Sailing
Alfred John Whereat was born in 1887, one of 4 children of Jack Whereat and his wife Kate (see Brisbane Boatbuilder and Sailor JH Whereat). With his father being both a leading skipper and a leading Brisbane boatbuilder it was almost inevitable that Alf would follow in his father’s footsteps. He raced various dinghies as a teenager, including a class of dinghy known as the dinghy raters, based on an American design of around 12 feet (I still have to check on this, Toby's Grandson Col Johnson believes they were Linton Hope raters). Jack and Alf who had joined the boatbuilding business built the first 5 of the fleet and may have built others as the fleet reached at least 10 boats. They both competed as skippers in boats named Mist and Maud. Alf also built and steered the 10-footers Jessie and Vera.
In 1917 Alf… ( I’ll call him Toby from now on, because everybody did).. Toby built and raced an 18-footer named MJB with little success, but the next season he built and raced a 16-foot skiff he built and named CLAR MELV (derived from the names of his children) and began to win races. A feature of CLAR MELV was that Toby built it with no heel or deadwood, and he continued in this practice with consecutive boats named CM and then a series of boats named AJAX. He was runner-up in the Australian title in Sydney in 1921 and then won in Brisbane in 1922, both in CM. He raced AJAX in the titles in Sydney in 1922-23 where the boat was cut in half by a ferry after capsizing!
Above: Alf "Toby" Whereat (1887-1932)
Below:The broken AJAX with crew. The boat had capsized and the crew were taken off. The boat was then hit by a Manly ferry. Both photos courtesy of AHSSA member Col Johnson, Grandson of Toby Whereat.
Alfred John Whereat was born in 1887, one of 4 children of Jack Whereat and his wife Kate (see Brisbane Boatbuilder and Sailor JH Whereat). With his father being both a leading skipper and a leading Brisbane boatbuilder it was almost inevitable that Alf would follow in his father’s footsteps. He raced various dinghies as a teenager, including a class of dinghy known as the dinghy raters, based on an American design of around 12 feet (I still have to check on this, Toby's Grandson Col Johnson believes they were Linton Hope raters). Jack and Alf who had joined the boatbuilding business built the first 5 of the fleet and may have built others as the fleet reached at least 10 boats. They both competed as skippers in boats named Mist and Maud. Alf also built and steered the 10-footers Jessie and Vera.
In 1917 Alf… ( I’ll call him Toby from now on, because everybody did).. Toby built and raced an 18-footer named MJB with little success, but the next season he built and raced a 16-foot skiff he built and named CLAR MELV (derived from the names of his children) and began to win races. A feature of CLAR MELV was that Toby built it with no heel or deadwood, and he continued in this practice with consecutive boats named CM and then a series of boats named AJAX. He was runner-up in the Australian title in Sydney in 1921 and then won in Brisbane in 1922, both in CM. He raced AJAX in the titles in Sydney in 1922-23 where the boat was cut in half by a ferry after capsizing!
Above: Alf "Toby" Whereat (1887-1932)
Below:The broken AJAX with crew. The boat had capsized and the crew were taken off. The boat was then hit by a Manly ferry. Both photos courtesy of AHSSA member Col Johnson, Grandson of Toby Whereat.
Toby won the Australian title for a second time in Brisbane in 1923-24 in AJAX A, and twice more in Brisbane, 1926-27 in AJAX III and 1929-30 in AJAX V. He won for a fifth time in Hobart in 1930-31 in AJAX VI. As well as his 16-foot skiff campaigns, he built and raced in the 21-foot restricted class interstate events. He also designed and built successful 16-foot skiffs for others including VICTOR for Vic Lucas and ABERDARE for Fred Hart.
In March 1926 the Sydney Champion 12-foot skiff SCHEMER (built by Wee Georgie Robinson) was brought to Brisbane by owner-skipper Ben Roff more or less as a challenge to stimulate Brisbane builders to join the new class (see 12-Footers Page). They set it up as the Australian Championship. Toby took an almost complete 14-footer named DEFIANCE, cut it down to 12 feet and entered the 3-race series with the varnish barely dry. He won the first 2 heats outright and no further heat was necessary.
Toby’s most significant achievement in the eyes of many however was his designing and building the 18-footer ABERDARE in 1932. This boat beat every boat she came up against in Brisbane in the 1932-33 season, and though they were beaten on their first trip to Sydney for the Championship in that season, ABERDARE won the title 4 years in a row from 1933/34 to 1936/37. The new skiff-like 18-footer, with no heel like Toby’s 16-foot skiffs and a high-peaked skiff rig was seen as a threat to the dominance of the wider heavier 18’s, and the ABERDARE successor THE MISTAKE was the focus of the splitting off of the 18-footers League from the Sydney Flying Squadron in 1935, changing 18-footer sailing for ever. The story is best told in Galloping Ghosts (2012) Robin Elliott.
In March 1926 the Sydney Champion 12-foot skiff SCHEMER (built by Wee Georgie Robinson) was brought to Brisbane by owner-skipper Ben Roff more or less as a challenge to stimulate Brisbane builders to join the new class (see 12-Footers Page). They set it up as the Australian Championship. Toby took an almost complete 14-footer named DEFIANCE, cut it down to 12 feet and entered the 3-race series with the varnish barely dry. He won the first 2 heats outright and no further heat was necessary.
Toby’s most significant achievement in the eyes of many however was his designing and building the 18-footer ABERDARE in 1932. This boat beat every boat she came up against in Brisbane in the 1932-33 season, and though they were beaten on their first trip to Sydney for the Championship in that season, ABERDARE won the title 4 years in a row from 1933/34 to 1936/37. The new skiff-like 18-footer, with no heel like Toby’s 16-foot skiffs and a high-peaked skiff rig was seen as a threat to the dominance of the wider heavier 18’s, and the ABERDARE successor THE MISTAKE was the focus of the splitting off of the 18-footers League from the Sydney Flying Squadron in 1935, changing 18-footer sailing for ever. The story is best told in Galloping Ghosts (2012) Robin Elliott.
Aberdare on the Brisbane River, State Library Queensland.
There are many stories about how ABERDARE came about. Toby’s grandson Col Johnson tells the story related to him by George McCartney that returning by ship from the Australian 18-footers Championship in Sydney in 1931 where Queensland boats did not gain a placing, the Queensland contingent including McCartney and the Whereats were discussing how to defeat NSW in the future, and Jack Whereat (Toby’s father) drew a rough set of lines of a skiff-type 18-footer on the deck, and offered to build it if someone would put up the money. Eventually Fred Hart who owned the 16-foot skiff ABERDARE named after the coal mine he owned near Ipswich came to the party, and the 18-foot ABERDARE was commissioned and built in 1932. Toby gets most of the credit for the design and build, and it is said that it was built on the modified moulds of his 16-foot version. As a boatbuilder I can say that this is unlikely other than the larger moulds were very similar in outline. It is possible he had started to build THE MISTAKE off the same or slightly modified moulds in late 1932.
Toby became ill in late 1932 while he was preparing to go to Perth for that season’s 16-foot Australian Championship, and he never got to sail on the 18-foot ABERDARE, but he was able to see it sailing from his sick bed in Bulimba, and knew that he had built a winning boat. He died of pneumonia in December 1932. His father Jack and Lance Watts finished off THE MISTAKE and sent it to Sydney where all the controversy began.
Toby became ill in late 1932 while he was preparing to go to Perth for that season’s 16-foot Australian Championship, and he never got to sail on the 18-foot ABERDARE, but he was able to see it sailing from his sick bed in Bulimba, and knew that he had built a winning boat. He died of pneumonia in December 1932. His father Jack and Lance Watts finished off THE MISTAKE and sent it to Sydney where all the controversy began.
Aberdare on Sydney Harbour probably in the 1934-35 Australian Championship which they won.