Every Wednesday of every year (weather permitting), enthusiastic yachties take the afternoon off work and venture to RQYS for a sail around Green Island, just for the fun of it!

Rearrange your schedule and get on down to the RQ Bar from 12 noon to enter your yacht, or register your interest to sail.

Vic and Judy will do their best to place visiting sailors on a yacht, however can not guarantee that a position will be available.

Non-members are able to join in with WAGS three (3) times before they are required to become a member of the Squadron.

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The Early History of WAGS
1977-1986

As told by John Taylor and Mike Thurlow
(With reference to notes by Ross Jullyan dated April 1996)

In May 1978 in pre-marina days Ross Jullyan (Avian IV), John Taylor (Orpheus) and Mike Thurlow (Wallen) began Wednesday Afternoon Sailing when the three of them were working on their boats at a work pontoon. Someone suggested it was a too nice a day to be varnishing – they should be sailing! The next suggestion was a race and when the course was set they were off.

The first event was a great success and it was decided in the downstairs bar they should do it regularly. Following that others joined in and one from memory was Kerry Spencer in “Suraya”. Others quickly followed and within six months a regular fleet of six to eight boats were sailing around Green Island. On some occasions the numbers lifted to ten or twelve and on Exhibition Wednesdays the number rose even higher and became a feature event on that Wednesday each year.

The idea was borrowed from a similar race held on Sydney Harbour at the time. It was decided the race rules would be simple and invariable and held every week at the same time so that no matter when a boatie decided to race it was not necessary for the skipper to read sailing instructions.

To keep it simple the course was around Green Island in a clockwise direction starting at the outer beacon and finishing at the same beacon. No spinnakers were allowed, otherwise the usual rules of racing applied. Any size boat with any number of hulls could join in and everyone who arrived at the yacht club was guaranteed a ride on somebody’s boat.

To make it interesting the handicap start rule was introduced and it fell to John Taylor’s lot to handicap each of the boats entered on the day. The aim was to have all boat finish rather than start together. Sometimes it worked and some really great finishes occurred when the fleet finished within 2 – 3 minutes of each other. The handicap was read out (to much cheering or derision) at about 1.30pm with the normal starting time being 2.30pm. Boats started with the slowest obviously going first.

The handicap was entirely arbitrary and was based on John’s experience of the performance in the various types of weather and his knowledge of the skipper’s abilities as well of those of his crew on the day. The weather factor was also taken into account each day as some boats performed well in the light weather and others better in the heavy. Drop keels were regarded as a distinct advantage as they allowed a short cut across the reefs. John’s view on handicapping was encapsulated in his oft repeated dialogue “everybody is a winner by being on the water” and “if you win it’s not because you are a good sailor but because I’ve made a bad call”.

The multihulls presented a peculiar difficulty and eventually when their numbers grew a separate division was created. Sometimes they sailed around Hope Banks beacon as the Green Island course was too short on a windy day.

Originally the winner had to shout the bar but as the fleet grew it became more and more expensive and certain boats and certain boats would slow or zig-zag so as not to come first.

Lindsay Wall became the first sponsor of WAGS when his Manly Marine presented a $10 voucher to the winner. This trophy was much prized and from time to time the Squadron and other benefactors put up a bottle of Bundaberg Rum for the winner. The system eventually settled down to become the happiest basis for Wednesday Afternoon Sailing.

Inevitably as the event grew sailors, being competitive by nature, were not content to just win on the day so a points keeping system was started with trophies at the end of each half year. This seemed a good idea at the time but as quite valuable prizes were offered by various yacht club members, it meant skippers became quite jealous of their points lead and agro began to surface particularly over the handicap and who had won or came second etc. Eventually this was dropped as the whole idea of Wednesday Afternoon Sailing was a fun, relaxed afternoon enjoying sailing and the race was incidental and simply a raison d’etre on the water.

In the early days Wednesday sailors were, for some reason, frowned upon by the then hierarchy of the Squadron and one Wednesday Past Commodore Tony Love (who was then at least a committee member but possibly the Vice Commodore of the Squadron) derisively said to John Taylor the Wednesday sailors were “wagging it”. This comment was quickly seized upon and the term Wednesday Afternoon Gentleman Sailors was coined – hence the name WAGS. Red t-shirts were donated by FAI, one of the avid sponsors of Wednesday Afternoon Sailing and a burgee was also produced and proudly worn by all WAGS members.

As time went by Wednesday Afternoon Sailing grew exponentially until about 1986 when John Taylor handed over the reigns to Alan Flockhart, the regular number of boats turning out was in the 20 – 25 range and on Exhibition Wednesday the numbers had grown to 30 or 40. Races were sailed no matter what the weather and the sailing was every bit as aggressive and competitive as in any other race. Collisions were not unknown and groundings on the coral reefs around Green Island were common, especially those trying to take a short cut or who were unaware of the extent of the coral reef.

The experienced WAGS skipper knew every nook and cranny in those reefs and could use them to great advantage when tacking. One afternoon a small trailer sailor unfortunately sank near the first beacon off Green Island and, being an early starter, (minus 30 minutes) was out there by itself. It was only when some of the later yachts sailed past the beacon did they discover the loss of the boat and they found the two crew members clinging to the beacon. They and the trailer sailor were eventually rescued and brought back to the Squadron after the race.

One of the joys of Wednesday afternoon was of course, the few stubbies consumed on the way round followed by the jugs of rum and coke afterwards in the bar. Manly boats made it a gourmet day with fancy plates, cheeses, wine and other goodies being served. WAGS was eventually recognised as making a significant contribution to the income of the Squadron at a time when it was struggling to get people through the door, especially through the week.

Some of the early sailors were:

Fred Hemming – Lorien
Clarrie Garnsworthy – Topaz
Graham Sneesby – Mydas Touch
Noel Patterson – Goodwind
Ken Lipke
Mike Burke – White Sox
Rodney Smith – Kasamanda
Ray Wilson – Sasquatch
“Rags” Ridgeway – Seawind 24
Bill Ryan
Paul O’Hare – Tyrant
Maurice Tilley – Sequanna
Lindsay Wall – Bonito 22
Eric Knights – Stardust II

It should not pass without note that Andrew Knights was another one of those early sailors and did in fact wag school to sail on Wednesday afternoons accompanied by his mother.