VALE – RONALD WILLIAM GREY

1931 – 2021

OLDER MEMBERS WILL REMEMBER Ron Grey who was a member from 1969 until 2017. He was a remarkable man: quiet, cheerful and always ready to help or advise.

His background was typical for a youngster growing up in Mosman Park – local primary school then Fremantle Boys High School. Life was good; Mosman Bay Sea Scouts, messing about on the river, and sailing with his brother Trevor in their 12ft Cadet Dinghy Gumleaf at RFBYC. It was in this boat that he was runner-up to Tony Manford in the State Championships.

He was also a keen footballer who played for East Fremantle around 1950 to 1953 during the era of Bernie Naylor and the infamous Jack Sheedy. This was reflected in one of his famous dinghys; the 16ft Skiff Elva named after his mother, and all built in her back yard. The skiff which he built and sailed from Mounts Bay Sailing Club was painted in blue and white panels. It was a hard chine design, revolutionary for that era. In this, Elva II, he won an Australian 16ft Skiff Championship on the Swan River, from Sydneysider Ken Beashell and his old friend and previous skipper Jack Cassidy.

Ron’s talents as a sailmaker and spar maker for Rolly Tasker followed his apprenticeship with the Beam Motor Bus Company building bus bodies from timber and sheet metal. This, together with a passion for sailing led to his experimenting with mast and sail shapes. One was a memorable example he referred to as the ‘Hockey’ mast because of the prodigious, overhanging bend at the top. Unfortunately, wood was never going to be strong enough to cope with the stresses and it collapsed and broke as soon as the sail filled. The introduction of aluminium for spars led to his developments with mast cranes and cantilever tops with and without backstay. His subsequent work as an aluminium spar maker and designer/builder of special yacht hardware became legendary.

Earlier in his career Ron set up and managed the Tasker Sails loft in La Rochelle in France and then Chicago in the USA. It was on return from the USA that he brought back a ‘Soling’ class yacht for Rolly. This was red in colour and named Siskabab. Ron sailed it on Rolly’s behalf on the river. After the local demise of the Soling class he sailed an Etchell 22, Cavalier, purchased from Laurie Connell.

Ronald William Grey was a quiet gentleman, good friend, former champion yachtsman and a wizard spar maker. He will be missed by his many friends in the yachting fraternity in WA and particularly by those at RFBYC.