Boat profile : Carbine - 20th November 2008
Boat Profile: Carbine Sm 8521 Boat Owners: Ray Tebbutt Noel Fyfe Jillian Marshall
Regular Crew: Richard Watkin Jon Gill Brad Lowe John Wager
Boat Type: Young 88
Carbine was built in 1999 in New Zealand and was bought by Ray, Noel and Jillian in Dec 2007. The three shipped her from New Zealand to SYC – Ray now has claims to being a cross Tasman shipping expert - so if you ever consider doing this consult him first!!!
The trio has been sailing ‘forever’. They first met at Royal Melbourne in the 1980’s and have been sailing either against or with each other since. Noel has always had a strong interest in horses and Jillian introduced him to sailing thinking it would be a cheaper hobby – but was she wrong!
Ray’s last boat – ZEPHYR, a Farr 1020, was a well sailed boat in the Saturday races and Noel and Jillian’s HANDS and HEELS was a well regarded starter in Wednesday Wonders races. Jillian was awarded the Best and Fairest award in 2004 by the Wednesday Wonders race officials.
Naming a boat always has its challenges – and the more owners the greater the challenge – but in this case it was an imperative. The first point of agreement was that the risk of bad luck incurred for changing the name was not a consideration – the old name of HANKY PANKY was not an option – a new name had to be found!!
CARBINE (the Melbourne Cup winner in 1890) is a nod to Noel’s interest in horses and allowed the continuation of a tradition started by Eryl Harris of replying “giddy up, giddy up” whenever Hands and Heels signed on at the race start. Ray is insistent that Carbine really is a short barreled rifle and the boat ‘goes as fast as a speeding bullet’.
Carbine speeds her way around the SYC race track on Wednesdays and Saturdays and is often mentioned in a podium position at the end of the race.
