During the 1980s and 1990s Jack Smid from the Georges River Sailing Club built a number of VJ hulls.
Jack built his hulls using pvc foam and glass, with some use of plywood in the decks. Some hulls were built for himself and some for other people, and all had considerable success.
Boats were: Foreign Order 9056 (1984), Infinity 9062 (1985), Snifta 9070 (1988), Thunderbird 9076 (1991), Small Quantity 9078 (1992), Bird Of Prey 9090 (1994) and Trouble and Strife 9091 (1994).
The majority of these boats went on to win many championships at Club, State and National level.
Foreign Order 9056 was built in 1984
Infinity 9062 was built in 1985
Building photos (courtesy of Jack Smid):
Infinity was skippered by Jack Smid to win the Australian Senior Championship in 1985-86
Snifta 9070 was built in 1988
Snifta was built by Jack in 1988 for former VJ Australian Champion Bruce Eltoft who returned to VJ sailing after several years away.
In August 1993 Greg Fryer bought the boat and re-named it ‘Big Apple II’ and sailed with the Belmont 16s club. With stand-in crew Rod Carter, Greg finished in second place in the 1993-94 Senior VJ Australian Championships held at Georges River Sailing Club.
In March 1994 Greg sold the boat to Michael Quirk from Belmont 16s and it was renamed ‘Rattle And Hum’. Michael Quirk and crew Michael Bull won the Junior VJ Australian Championship in 1994-95 at Taree.
This boat was successful with every owner and continued to be one of the top VJs at Belmont sailed by following owners.
In early 1994 the Snifta/Big Apple II/Rattle and Hum hull shape was measured and plotted on computer by Greg Fryer and David Cleworth. The computer drawings below served as the starting point for David’s 1994 VJ design for Greg Fryer which became the Big Apple III/Code Red hull:
Thunderbird 9076 was built by Jack in 1991 for Bruce Eltoft from Georges River Sailing Club. In 1992-93 Bruce won the Senior VJ Australian Championship which was held at Teralba Amateur Sailing Club at Lake Macquarie.
In 1993-94 Bruce Eltoft again won the Senior VJ Australian Championship at Georges River Sailing Club.
Photos below are from the final race of the series 3rd January 1994 sailed in a moderate south easterly breeze
Small Quantity 9078 was built by Jack for himself in 1992
4 photos below are from the Georges River VJ Australian Championships 1993-94
Photos below are of Small Quantity skippered by Nigel Hale at Belmont 16s in 1998-99
Small Quantity was later owned by John Shaw and sailed at Manning River Sailing Club. John re-named the boat ‘Winning Ways’, here pictured around 2004. (Photos were kindly supplied by Joy Shaw)
In 1994 Jack Smid built a new jig based on Craig Hughes’ plans drawn up in 1989 for the VJ Association, and built two boats from this jig in mid 1994: 9090 ‘Bird Of Prey’, and 9091 ‘Trouble and Strife’.
Bird Of Prey 9090 was built in 1994 for Matthew Stephens from the Georges River Sailing Club.
Photos below are from 1994-95 Taree National titles (with old mainsail featuring the Bojangles insignia) and from Teralba in 2012.
In 2021 Jason Smid bought Bird Of Prey and commenced refurbishment of the hull which included a complete repainting. Bird Of Prey was on display at the Vaucluse Yacht Club VJ 90th Anniversary event which was held on Saturday 11th December 2021.
Photos below of the repainting are courtesy of Jason Smid:
Bird Of Prey and Code Red at Vaucluse Yacht Club VJ 90th Anniversary 11th December 2021:
‘Trouble And Strife’ 9091 was built by Jack for himself during winter 1994. He sailed the boat only during the 1994-95 season. The boat was sold in winter 1995 to Andrew McKensey at the Belmont 16s club and was re-named Freaky Styley.
‘Small Quantity’ had been kept by Jack during the 1994-95 season, and for the next two seasons Jack and Jason Smid raced Small Quantity from the Georges River Sailing Club.
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