Page 69 - Mark Chews Forty Two Australian Wooden Sailing Boats Sept 17 2020

Jock Muir designed WESTWARD as a fishing cruiser for a Sydney buyer shortly after In 2011 it is now an active sailing boat working from the museum and will be
World War II. The sale fell through when the hull was only partly completed and he gradually returned to the original specification over the next few years.
sold the boat to George Gibson, his former mainsheet hand in KITTIWAKE from their
Cadet Dinghy racing days on the Derwent. She was launched in 1947 from Muir's
Sandy Bay yard. The yacht is strongly built with 28mm thick celery top pine planking
on laminated blue gum frames, heavy stringers and deck beams. The deckhouse
partially covers a self-draining cockpit. The conservative proportions and heavy
construction turned out to be an advantage when its handicap was assessed under
the RORC rule for offshore racing, and it ended up with a very favourable time
correction factor. The yacht was one of the first vessels built by Muir’s Boatyard, and
with WESTWARD's success he became well known. He later built other famous yachts
such as WALTZING MATILDA and MARIS.
WESTWARD's first race was also the beginning of Jock Muir's heyday as an ocean
racing yachtsman. Jock liked to remember WESTWARD as the only yacht with a fish
well to win a Sydney to Hobart race. Her building virtually marked the start of Muir's
Boatyard and her first race and handicap win kicked off Jock Muir's illustrious career
as a blue water ocean racer.
Jock said of her… “She was a lovely boat and I still can't fault her. She has a fairly
long keel and stern-hung rudder and I remember in one race she carried a spinnaker
across Bass Strait when other competitors were dragging sea anchors and warps.
She rated very low under the RORC rating and revelled in gale conditions - as indeed
I did."
Jock classes Westward's 1947 and 1948 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race wins as two
of the three greatest thrills of his sailing life.
She also took part in other offshore events as well. Under other owners WESTWARD
cruised the northern coast of Australia and the Pacific for almost 55 years. Its last
owner was Stan Field from Queensland who sailed the yacht extensively, including
a 15 year cruise with his family, mainly in the Pacific, but also visiting the Panama
Canal. In 2010 Mr Field donated the yacht to the Maritime Museum of Tasmania
and it was sailed from Hervey Bay in Queensland to Hobart, with plans for it to
eventually go on permanent display in Constitution Dock.
WESTWARD is in good condition and was sailed back to Hobart during May and
June 2010, skippered by the Museum's vice-president Captain Mike Webb. They
have since removed some additions to the superstructure and rebuilt the cabin
arrangements to return WESTWARD as close as possible to its original configuration.

CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 69