The last and only time the famous Beashel brothers from Sydney's northern beaches sailed together was in the 1993 Admiral's Cup aboard John Calvert-Jones' Great News II. Different sailing programs have kept Colin and Adam apart for 16 years but today at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week the pair was reunited aboard Steven David's Reichel Pugh 60 Wild Joe from Sydney.
Elder brother Colin, a six-time Olympic Star sailor who finished with the bronze medal in 1996 and was the mainsheet hand for Australia's winning America's Cup crew in 1983 has been Wild Joe's principal helmsman since the week-long regatta kicked off last Saturday.
Adam, strategist aboard the TP52 Emirates Team New Zealand , arrived at Hamilton Island yesterday afternoon having travelled 56 hours following his team's win in the penultimate event of the Audi MedCup Circuit regatta, the Portugal Trophy, by 1.5 points.
There was plenty of talk amongst Wild Joe's crew about whether Adam would take the helm from his older brother but for today's stunning course around Baynham and Pentecost islands, Colin had his hands firmly on the wheel while Adam called tactics.
“I'll see if I can't get the last race off him, he's not going to give up the wheel easily,” laughed Adam this afternoon once the boat had docked.
“I'd better get the araldite out,” was Colin's comeback.
Explaining the length of time since the brothers last sailed together, Adam said “We've done different things, I went into America's Cups and Colin concentrated on the Olympics and the boatshed business. Hopefully more opportunities will come.”
Another family combination aboard Wild Joe is the father and son team of John and Steven David, the boat's owners.
Wild Joe finished this afternoon's island race fourth behind Bob Oatley's Reichel Pugh 66 Wild Oats X, Peter Harburg's Reichel Pugh 66 Black Jack and Alan Brierty's Reichel Pugh 63 Limit, all three enjoying a close three-way tussle along the western shoreline of Dent Island before Wild Oats X took charge to score its third line honours win from five races.
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Image: Colin Beashel (at helm), Adam Beshel (right) with boat owner Steven David (front).
Photos : Andrea Francolini/Audi
