The Swan and Canning Rivers

These were the original transport system for the early settlers and as the transport system developed, yachts and boats would race each other to get goods delivered up and down the river. The use of oars and sails was predominate in the 19th century and it wasn't long before sailing or yachting clubs developed around the more sportsman like use of the yachts. There were an half dozen along the foreshore of the Swan river at the cities edge and as the city developed so the clubs were asked to move up or down the river to allow for more waterfront space at the cities edge.
All of a sudden we have a number of clubs along the river, numerous sailors all with the desire to make their lives more interesting.
All of a sudden we have a number of clubs along the river, numerous sailors all with the desire to make their lives more interesting.
Where it all began.
Loyal Weaver

As a sailor, no one more connected and commited could be found as Loyal Weaver.
He was described as a devotee of L Francis Herreshoff and his philosophy
of sailing, and indeed should have been paid as a sales representative for LFH for the
amount of work that he did in fostering the class.
His concern was to get all the H28's on the river over to the then "young" club that was known as the South Perth Yacht Club, based on the Como foreshore. During the mid to late 1950's, Main Roads decided that a freeway was to be built along the South Perth / Como foreshore and consequently the club had to move. Coffee Point was selected ( opposite the old site ) and the club resides there still.
In the early 60's Loyal's campaigning began to show dividends and the nucleus of the H28 fleet formed at the club and rapidly grew as other H28 sailors saw the benefit of sailing in a growing class. Keep in mind that the H28 was about as big a yacht as one man could build and was featured prominently in many of the long distance races e.g. Bunbury return / Cape Naturaliste / Mandurah return.
There another man on the river with equal enthusiasm and his name was:
Don Bourne
Don was one of the original owner-builders on the river and sailed out of Royal Perth Yacht Club until he was finally convinced to come over to SoPYC by Loyal. As a sailor, he was one of the best and spent most of his sailing life on his boat Wynella, representing first RPYC and then SoPYC from the early 60's on. There is a special page in the gallery featuring Wynella, Don and his family.
The inaugural meeting of the H28's was held on the 28th of February 1963 and the minutes record the foundation members.
They were
Rear Commodore W Vance Karolya
John Lewis Casilda
Jim Carrol Thelma
Ray Kelt Gwenda
Bob Moss Hesta Mary
Chairman/ Handicapper Loyal Weaver Nova
Frank Corser Saga
? Ferguson ?
Ron Viney Carina
Secretary Gordon Jones Mariner
Malcome Burges
Bill Foley
It was moved by Frank Corser and seconded by Loyal Weaver that the H28's sailed as a class and they sailed with "A"
division for the remainder of the 1962/63 season but under their own handicap.
The majority of the fleet at that stage were fractional sloop rig and the use of wooden masts and spars was common as the availibilty of aluminium was minimal still at this stage. However, nowadays the use of aluminium is mandatory and for our sails, we have gone from cotton, to Dacron and some have looked at Kevlar and the associated other synthetics. One or two of the original Stuart Turner
petrol engines still exist, but in the main most owners have settled for diesil engines or in some cases relied on sail alone.
In the early 50's and 60's, the stringent safety rules we know today were not in existance, consequently classes like the H28
were eligible to compete in ocean racing and did so with alarming frequency.
The main races of the day were the Bunbury Return, the Mandurah Return and in 1955 the Inaugural Cape Naturaliste in which several
H28's competed. Mind you, the average size of a yacht in those days was between 25 to 35 feet, unless you had pots of money and most sailors were continually looking for funding or sponsorship in their sport, much as they are today.
There is a small amount of confusion over the spelling of the name Herreshoff due to the early habits of the office staff over at another yacht club and their spelling of the name as "Herreschoff". The boat registers that I have viewed, clearly indicate the misnomer and it will be part of the history of the yachts on the river. The archivist Jon Readhead at Royal Perth has been very helpful with his assistance in information regarding early H28 movements.
He was described as a devotee of L Francis Herreshoff and his philosophy
of sailing, and indeed should have been paid as a sales representative for LFH for the
amount of work that he did in fostering the class.
His concern was to get all the H28's on the river over to the then "young" club that was known as the South Perth Yacht Club, based on the Como foreshore. During the mid to late 1950's, Main Roads decided that a freeway was to be built along the South Perth / Como foreshore and consequently the club had to move. Coffee Point was selected ( opposite the old site ) and the club resides there still.
In the early 60's Loyal's campaigning began to show dividends and the nucleus of the H28 fleet formed at the club and rapidly grew as other H28 sailors saw the benefit of sailing in a growing class. Keep in mind that the H28 was about as big a yacht as one man could build and was featured prominently in many of the long distance races e.g. Bunbury return / Cape Naturaliste / Mandurah return.
There another man on the river with equal enthusiasm and his name was:
Don Bourne
Don was one of the original owner-builders on the river and sailed out of Royal Perth Yacht Club until he was finally convinced to come over to SoPYC by Loyal. As a sailor, he was one of the best and spent most of his sailing life on his boat Wynella, representing first RPYC and then SoPYC from the early 60's on. There is a special page in the gallery featuring Wynella, Don and his family.
The inaugural meeting of the H28's was held on the 28th of February 1963 and the minutes record the foundation members.
They were
Rear Commodore W Vance Karolya
John Lewis Casilda
Jim Carrol Thelma
Ray Kelt Gwenda
Bob Moss Hesta Mary
Chairman/ Handicapper Loyal Weaver Nova
Frank Corser Saga
? Ferguson ?
Ron Viney Carina
Secretary Gordon Jones Mariner
Malcome Burges
Bill Foley
It was moved by Frank Corser and seconded by Loyal Weaver that the H28's sailed as a class and they sailed with "A"
division for the remainder of the 1962/63 season but under their own handicap.
The majority of the fleet at that stage were fractional sloop rig and the use of wooden masts and spars was common as the availibilty of aluminium was minimal still at this stage. However, nowadays the use of aluminium is mandatory and for our sails, we have gone from cotton, to Dacron and some have looked at Kevlar and the associated other synthetics. One or two of the original Stuart Turner
petrol engines still exist, but in the main most owners have settled for diesil engines or in some cases relied on sail alone.
In the early 50's and 60's, the stringent safety rules we know today were not in existance, consequently classes like the H28
were eligible to compete in ocean racing and did so with alarming frequency.
The main races of the day were the Bunbury Return, the Mandurah Return and in 1955 the Inaugural Cape Naturaliste in which several
H28's competed. Mind you, the average size of a yacht in those days was between 25 to 35 feet, unless you had pots of money and most sailors were continually looking for funding or sponsorship in their sport, much as they are today.
There is a small amount of confusion over the spelling of the name Herreshoff due to the early habits of the office staff over at another yacht club and their spelling of the name as "Herreschoff". The boat registers that I have viewed, clearly indicate the misnomer and it will be part of the history of the yachts on the river. The archivist Jon Readhead at Royal Perth has been very helpful with his assistance in information regarding early H28 movements.