Brindabella AKA The Peoples Maxi and named after the Brindabella ranges in ACT is Australia’s most famous maxi yacht – and for good reason.
In 1997 she won Line Honours in the Sydney to Hobart and has come second place four times making her Australia’s most favourite underdog. At one stage she held every race record out of Sydney and still holds the race record in the 1999 Sydney to Hobart for a conventionally ballasted yacht. This record will go down in history at 1 day, 20 hours, 46 minutes and 33 seconds.
She won line honours and set a race record in the 1994 Auckland to Noumea race and has campaigned in the Hawaii Transpac race. She also still holds race the race record for the Sydney to Noumea, Sydney to Mooloolaba and the Sydney to Wollongong races. Her entire victory list is too great to list.
Believed to be conceived on the back of a beer coaster at the CYCA the 80ft maxi yacht Brindabella was commissioned by George Snow, designed by Scott Jutson and built by Boatspeed in 1992-1993.
The IMS rules she was designed under restricted the use of carbon fibre composites until being relaxed the following year putting her at an immediate disadvantage of yachts built in her wake. Constructed of laminated Kevlar and still bearing the original aviation paint she was launched in – she is literally bullet proof. While heavier Kevlar is able to flex, common carbon fibre boats crack under extreme force, thus she barely shows any sign of structural degradation today. This disadvantage in construction material is also her reason for longevity – most of the yachts which subsequently beat her in the 90’s have been sent to the scrap heap.
Brindabella was the first Maxi yacht in the world to be fitted with a Harken winch & grinder set, setting the scene for Harken’s success in this market globally. These winches are one off items, museum pieces in their own right. A specialised winch grease was even developed by a local university, purpose made for these winches and is still used today.
George Snow sold Brindabella to Andrew Short (Andrew Short Marine) in 2007 however without naming rights, after subsequently naming her “Brindabella ASM” George agreed this looked wrong and allowed the naming rights of Brindabella to then follow the boat. Andrew made improvements to the boat including a more competitive keel allowing higher upwind performance as well as a bow sprit and sugar scoop increasing her length on water performance. By this time her competitive racing career was over, superseded by sophisticated canting keel and composite technologies, however she still retained an enormous iconic pull with the Australian public and is always a crowd favourite at any regatta.
Jim Cooney purchased the boat in 2010 from Andrew Short’s estate knowing she would never compete at the top end but out of an adoration for her legacy. Jim invested in giving her an extended racing life that would form the foundation of his racing team and subsequent campaigns onboard his super maxi Comanche.
Brindabella is synonymous with the Sydney Hobart race, an Australian built yacht that competed against the best in the world. She is adored by not only the yachting community but the Australian public in general. Even those whom don’t follow yachting know of the legendary sailing icon Brindabella.
Brindabella has won the hearts of many and sailed with many celebrity Australian crew in her lifetime. Over 500 crew have sailed Brinda’s to Hobart over the years and now in her new life in Adelaide we look forward to offering many more people the opportunity to get onboard this iconic piece of Australian History
In 2021, we, Johnny Hilhorst and Brigid Dighton purchased Brindabella to offer her a new life and narrative in South Australia – and we are incredibly excited about what the future holds. In late 2021 Brindabella was recognised by the Australian Maritime Museum as a historically significant vessel.