• Howick and Pakuranga Times
The Des Townson Memorial Regatta Trophy, named in honour of the late sailboat designer and yachting industry legend, has been presented to Colin Hickman at Bucklands Beach Yacht Club.
Mr Townson died in late 2008 after a long battle with cancer, and the trophy came about when his friends decided to do something to remember his extraordinary life.
A group of friends and club members gathered recently to share memories of Mr Townson and to present the hand-carved kauri trophy to its first recipient.
Lindsay Graves, the club’s past commodore, says Mr Townson was a perfectionist but didn’t always win the model boat regattas he entered.
“Des, in the many years he had been racing, would often finish between sixth and 10th,” says Mr Graves.
With that in mind, his friends decided to ask Mr Townson’s widow Sue to pull a number in that range out of a hat. Whoever finishes in that place at the club’s annual regatta will take the trophy home.
Club member Noel May was commissioned in secret to create something the late designer would have been proud of, and all involved agree he has done just that.
Rita Graves says the aim was to present the trophy to a sailor who enjoys the competition.
“But it may not always be up there with the usual winners.
“Des’s philosophy was that in order to have a race, someone must come first and someone must come last, but it’s the competitors’ participation that makes it a real yacht race,” says Mrs Graves.
The first person to receive the trophy is Mr Hickman, who finished sixth in this past summer’s club regatta. He intends to repeat his success at the next race, scheduled for this November.
“Noel won’t have to make another one because it’s my intention to win it back next year,” he jokes.
Mr Townson was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2008 for his contribution to yachting. Described as a creative genius, about 3500 yachts and boats carry his designer’s name.
His most well-known creations are the Starling, Mistral, Zephyr and Pied Piper classes, and they often filled their sails first on the Tamaki River.
The club’s next regatta of Electron remote-controlled boats, modelled on Townson’s 34-foot sloop, is scheduled for Rarotonga in August.
