A Growing Sport - Evelyn IV and Yacht Racing

This is the Australian 16-foot racing skiff Evelyn IV, one of a series of 16-footers built by West Australian sailor Jack Cassidy and named after his wife. Jack was a keen yachtsman and as an owner- builder was able to progressively modify each new one with features that improved its performance.  Not only did he design and build his boats, but he made the sails, many of the fittings and then sailed them to victory.  Jack raced 16-foot skiffs during the 1950s and 1960s, winning six Australian championships and countless WA titles. His last championship win was in 1964 in Evelyn XII.

Jack was a relentless innovator and just as Ben Lexcen gave Australia a revolutionary bendy mast for the 1980 America’s Cup, Jack designed a banana mast 25 years earlier for Evelyn IV. While the ideas behind each of the innovations were different, they highlight the ever-curious minds of two great Australian sailors and designers.

Jack was no sentimentalist and as soon as he had built a new skiff, he would sell his old one. With the proceeds from the sale of Evelyn IV Jack bought a refrigerator for his wife.

The new owner wanted to go fishing so he fitted an outboard motor and the famous racing yacht disappeared from view. Decades later a yachting enthusiast, Jack Rae, found Evelyn IV and spent thousands of dollars on its restoration. He gave it back to Jack who donated it to the museum. Jack and his old crew brought it in here just before the museum opened and rigged it up just like they had half a century before.

Start of a yacht race on the Swan River, January 1934
Credit: State Library of Western Australia, 2951B/3/4