Kiwis stand tall in global competition

Fidelis is now owned by Australian Nigel Stokes, who has extensively modified her and upgraded her systems.

and Ron Neil, to join him in ordering new boats to the Stewart design.

“They wanted their boats built with heart kauri,” Davern recalls. “Heart kauri was too dear for me. I could only afford sap kauri, which,” he smiles, “is half the weight of heart kauri.” His lightweight Princess quickly became the gun boat of the Stewart 34 fleet, which at that stage was not yet a one-design class.

As a boy, Davern had always admired Lou Tercel’s Ranger, which ruled the Waitemata for three decades. When jeweller Vic Speight built the 61ft Fidelis, designed along similar lines, the waterfront buzzed with anticipation. At last, perhaps, a Ranger-beater had arrived.

Initially, however, Fidelis’ results did not live up to expectation. Never lacking in selfconfidence, Davern approached Speight during a Squadron Weekend party at Kawau Island and boasted that if he owned Fidelis, he would beat Tercel’s Ranger.

Speight took up the challenge and agreed to let Davern race Fidelis against Ranger. Fidelis duly won (by just 11 seconds) and, true to his word, Speight agreed to a deal, part of which involved exchanging boats.

Under Davern’s ownership, Fidelis underwent extensive modifications, including a new mast and rudder and an aggressive weight reduction regime. Emboldened by victory in a stormy Auckland to Fiji race, Davern set off across the Tasman to take on the SydneyHobart classic.

Trans-Tasman relations were immediately placed on a war footing, with the Sydneysiders mocking Fidelis as a “yellow submarine” and Davern promising to “kick your arse to Hobart”. Which he promptly did. “We were 40 miles ahead on the second day, 60 miles ahead on the third and 80 miles ahead at the finish,” he

A memorable encounter

The opportunity to hear Jim Davern recount the Fidelis story in person arose from a phone call, in which he said he had some papers and memorabilia he wanted to donate to the RNZYS archives.

When I arrived at his address at the appointed time, he said he hoped his story might inspire youngsters that with passion and application anyone could overcome tough circumstances and make their dreams come true. Maybe it could be included in a history of the club one day.

He looked slightly crestfallen when I said the book Salt in Our Blood, recounting the RNZYS’s 150-year history, was already published. But, I assured him, he was fully acknowledged as one of its notable heroes.

“Really?” he said. “I didn’t know that.”

As we spoke in his sun-filled lounge with its glorious views over the Hauraki Gulf, I noticed that a copy of the book was lying right there on his coffee table. recalls proudly. When the next boat trailed across the line 17 hours later, Davern was on hand to enquire if it had got lost on the way.

It was a record margin of victory that stood for a decade and will be forever remembered in New Zealand.

By Ivor Wilkins

“Is that the Squadron book?” he enquired when I pointed it out. “I haven’t been able to read it because it is so heavy.”

So, we sat side by side on his sofa while I showed him photographs of Fidelis and read him passages relating his rags-to-riches business success, his contribution to the establishment of the Stewart 34 class and ultimately his Sydney Hobart triumph.

He chortled merrily at the account of how he got the last laugh over his Aussie tormentors. A pause for a moment’s reflection and then he exclaimed, “I am famous.” He shook his head as if life was a huge joke.

Then, in a sudden change of direction, he asked: “Did you hear the one about when I was in England managing the Admiral’s Cup team and one of our One Tonners hit a pub?” And, he was off again, back down memory lane with his irrepressible humour and his wealth of yarns in a life well lived.

“I plan to live to 100,” he declared.

Who would bet against it?

John Lidgard was a highly respected trailblazer in NZ’s yachting story.

1971 Hobart hero will be remembered at 2022 race start

Just five years after Jim Davern’s Sydney Hobart win with Fidelis, three New Zealand One-Tonners – Pathfinder, Runaway and Wai-Aniwa – posted a trifecta result at the same event, a Southern Cross Cup feat that has never been repeated.

Last year, to mark the 50th anniversary of that achievement Richard Wilson was invited to fire the Boxing Day start gun for the 630-mile race. Wilson crewed on Pathfinder, owned and skippered by his father, Brin Wilson, in 1971. Covid restrictions meant Wilson could not take up the opportunity, but the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia has extended another invitation for this year’s start.

“My wife, Linda, and I will be travelling to Sydney this time and we are really looking forward to being there,” Wilson confirmed. “The invitation is to be on board the start boat. Nothing has been said about doing anything official in terms of the starting signals.”

The winner of the 1972 race was American media mogul and America’s Cup winner Ted Turner. It is understood Turner has been invited to fire the start gun, but at the time of writing had not indicated whether or not he would travel to Sydney.

Wilson’s uncle John Lidgard, who passed away in July, was skipper of Runaway in the famous 1971 result. “He will be sorely missed and very much on our minds on Boxing Day,” Wilson said. “John had a very good innings. I sailed with him a lot when I was a young guy.”

It is estimated that Lidgard sailed the equivalent of more than 15 circumnavigations, or to the moon and most of the way back. A prolific boatbuilder, he was a significant player in the post-war growth and development of New Zealand’s marine industry and its international racing success.

In addition to that extraordinary Southern Cross Cup win, his many racing achievements – most of them with his wife, Heather, at his side – include the inaugural two-handed Round North Island Race in 1977. He and Heather, who died last year, also won the cruising division of the inaugural 5,377-mile two-handed Melbourne-Osaka Race. They finished four days ahead of the next boat in their division. QUALITY MARINE PRODUCTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

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