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keel box. A special framework is placedover the keel box and the keel is winchedup to make a compact, trailable load.

The rudder is mounted within acassette-like box on bearings so thewhole unit can be lifted out throughthe top of the cockpit.

The towing load was just under the3500kg towing weigh limit, withanother 1.5 tonne of weight in the trayof the ute to satisfy the vehicle weightrequirements of the towing regulations.“You could tow it with vehicles like a100 series Land Cruiser or RangeRover,” said Keough.

The launch boat that also nameda class, Clubman, was built forand with input from Geoffrey

Vercoe, one of Adelaide’s keenest supporters of far-flung regattas. Heknows all about the tyranny of distanceand the associated costs of getting a boat around the country.

He campaigned the Jutson 42Maglieri Wines in all the major east coastevents, including the Sydney-Hobartrace. He last sailed the big Whitsundayregattas in 1998, just before sellingMaglieri Wines.

He returned in 2000 to theHamilton Island regatta in a muchmore economical way with two of his crewmen towing the boat on thetype of trailer you would find underone of the bigger trailable sports yachts behind an LT110 turbo diesel2.7 litre Land Rover utility.

Trailing was made possible byretractable keel and rudder mechanisms,engineered by Austral Yachts from its25 years of experience in building trailerable yachts. The boat was launcheddown a ramp from its trailer when it reached the Whitsundays. A crane isneeded only to step the mast.

Michael Keough, of Austral Yachts,said: “To get the boat up cost $500 infuel. So I estimate we are $4500 infront of everyone else who truckedboats up here.”

Special frameworkA console, incorporating a cabin tablewith two extension leaves, sink withelectric pump and stove, is located overthe keel box. The whole arrangementhinges forward to give access to the

One forthe road

Did it tow well? Did it what. TrevorLambert, who with David Pearce, didthe 3100 km driving job throughBroken Hill and along the NewellHighway to Queensland, inadvertentlyleft four triangular bottles of Grant’sscotch whisky sitting at the transomedge of the open cockpit when they setout from Adelaide. The ride was sosmooth, Trevor found the bottles stillsitting there 900km up the road.

The boat is Jutson’s first for Australsince the Clubman 8 trailerable thatwon the Australian Yacht of the YearAward for 1993-94.

Jutson says that although it is aimedat the growing interest in the JOGSuper 30 class and will have one-designclass rules, it also rates for IMS, IRCand IRM handicap rules.

The boat fully meets IMS headroomand accommodation requirements and is offshore capable to Category 1regulations.

The rig features non-overlappingheadsails with two pairs of swept-backspreaders and aft-set caps and lowersdispensing with the need for runners –the efficient arrangement that has nowbecome conventional for IRC boats.

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Carbon fibreThe spars are all carbon fibre, fromApplied Composite Technologies, PortMelbourne, whose Pete Kula sailed onthe boat at Hamilton Island, Clubmancarried rod rigging. Headsails are nonoverlapping with 107 per cent LP measurement the optimal. Clubman’ssail wardrobe, from Adelaide sailmakerRay Brown, included three headsails ofidentical size but of varying depths tosuit the conditions, plus a numberfour, masthead running and masthead assymetrical spinnakers and a large-roached mainsail.

Austral Yachts launched its new Clubman Super 30 last year atHamilton Island. This Scott Jutson one-design keelboat, targeting thegrowing interest in the Super 30 JOG class, impressed Bob Ross.

Construction is to the AmericanBureau of Shipping standard. Hull anddeck are Divinycell pvc cored with E-glass double bias cloth laminated withvinylester resin. Bulkheads, bunk basesand floorboards are all similarly foamcored.

The keel is a cast iron foil with alead bulb. The rudder stock and bladeare carbon fibre.

A good, distinct non-skid pattern isincorporated in the deck moulding.

Attention to detailAustral has given a great deal of attention to the internal finish of theboat with neat, easy to clean and maintain, liner and furniture mouldings.“We spent a fair bit of time on gettingthe finish nice and fair,” explainsKeough. “We wanted to make it so it’seasy to maintain and will always lookgood.”

The layout is basic and racing oriented. The main bulkhead is set well forward. The forepeak is givenover to sail stowage and accommodatesthe toilet. Two stowage cupboards arelocated port and starboard opposite the masts.

Settee berths with comfortablecushions and back rests flank the con-sole housing the stove, sink and table,

with crew-stowage nets behind theback rests.

The two large quarter berths havecentral lee cloth dividers to create seaberths. An opening port each sideadmits light and air to the quarterberth area.

Batteries and extra stowage spaceare located under the settees oppositethe navigation station. Auxiliary poweris provided by a Bukh 12.8hp diesel(with sail drive) under the companion-way step.

Thought, too, has gone into

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High level race performance is a feature ofthe Clubman Super 30.

Contact point

Designer: Jutson Yacht DesignBuilder: Austral Yachts Pty Ltd, 20-22 Cottage Lane, HockhamSA 5163Tel: 08 8384 5487; Fax: 088326 1537 or Emailinfo@australyachts.com.au

“The boat fully meets all the IMS headroom andaccommodation requirements.”

organising the deck layout and systemsto keep the working areas clean of linesand tails.

The tubular aluminium hand railsin the saloon take the jib car position-ing control lines; the Cunningham eyecontrol line leads internally throughthe bunk bases to emerge at the main-sheet trimmer’s console in the cockpit.The backstay control line leadsthrough a tube in the transom, to theconsole where the mainsheet fine tuneis also located. The tweaker lines runinternally too, in tubes ‘glassed inunder the decks. The main halyardemerges from the mast below deck.

The stanchions fit into tubesmoulded on the inside, with fasteningssecuring the tubes to both hull anddeck. The stanchions are secured in thetubes by Allen head threads. There areno bolts to come loose.

Deck fittings are all Harken,including a windward-sheeting self-tacking traveller car.

Sailing enjoymentPricing was not finalised when GeoffreyVercoe’s boat hit the water at HamiltonIsland, Michael Keough expected it to be around $185,000. Austral Yachtshas a second Clubman Super 30 under construction and has also started

building a Clubman 36, a new designfrom Jutson that will balance perfor-mance, sailing enjoyment and handlingwith comfortable interiors.

Results at the regatta were gratifying; promising for a boat thathad not raced before and with a crewthat not been together until the regatta.It did include Ray Stone from Sydney,who formerly campaigned a JutsonMount Gay 30 called Razor’s Edge.

They had targeted the Mumm 30Addiction, skippered by Stewart Lewisfrom Brisbane, as a similarly-sizedbenchmark and did seem to be fasterupwind. Clubman finished ninth in theIRC fleet of 20 with her best placing a second in race eight.

“We have worked together withGeoff Vercoe on the boat and he isreally happy with everything,” MichaelKeough said. “With it the cost of goingto regattas, the ability to trail it aroundbehind his car is very appealing.

“You go to a Farr 40 and you are looking at three times the cost forthe boat and probably a lot more inrunning costs.”

“It has been tremendous. I was notreally expecting to do so well in IRC. I though we would be out the backdoor while trying to learn how to sailthe boat. I think it is a lovely little boat

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which has achieved all our expectations.“The crew work was good and hav-

ing Ray Stone on the boat was fantastic.”The boat sails with a crew of

seven. Vercoe was planning to do SouthAustralian events this summer and possibly the Lincoln Week regatta.”

Michael Keough was happy withthe boat’s first regatta performance.Work still had to be done on reducingthe IRC rating. “We had to beat theSydney 36 over the line,” he said.

Easy does itI went for a sail on the lay day atHamilton in a 10-12 knot sou’easter.We ran into the Whitsunday Passageunder the masthead spinnaker that iscertainly big and had a long beat back.

Clubman was easy to manage offthe breeze in these conditions, with a speedo showing 7.5 knots and then a bit of a dream to sail upwind.

Ray Stone was a big help on mainsheet trim and once in the grooveupwind, we were able to sit onrespectable speeds for long periods withthe flat water helping. The speedoshowed 6.6s and 6.7s a lot of the time.The boat built speed easily after tacks.

It’s well balanced, easy to steer andtack and I really enjoyed the sail on a perfect, warm, Whitsundays day.

DESIGN STUDIO: CLUBMAN SUPER 30

SPECIFICATIONSLOA 9.50m

Beam 10.45m

Cabin height 1.90m

B.MAX 3.80m

Draft 2.40m

Displacement 6,827kg

Sail dimensions:

P 12.6m

E 4.5m

J 3.7m

L 12.128m