Peter Lyons - A lifetime devoted to building wooden boats and sailing.

Peter Lyons joined Black Rock Yacht Club as a junior member in 1944 aged 11. At a time when the Heavyweight Sharpie or Twelve Square Metre class was taking off, Peter's best chance of getting a ride was in fact his youth and light build, as that made him an ideal candidate for the role of 'pump boy'. This role was critical in a class with no internal bulkheads or buoyancy tanks, especially whilst having to deal with the waves of Port Phillip Bay. So, while the main crew members hiked out, the junior crew member had to sit inboard and work hard operating the hand pumps mounted on each side of the centre plate case. Obviously, this rather tough initiation into sailing didn't dampen Peter's enthusiasm as a couple of years later he built a Vee Jay (Vaucluse Junior), which was starting to make it's mark as the junior class of choice at Black Rock.

This was the first of many timber boats that Peter would build both for himself, his kids and in later life some were built again in miniature as models. A few years later Peter built his second Vee Jay 'Flash' a boat he took to Vaucluse in Sydney to compete in the 1950/51 National title series. But Peter's early taste of the Sharpie class had made a big impression so while many of his contemporaries at the club were looking at sailing intermediate classes, Peter looked to the future and started building a Heavyweight Sharpie as soon as he began working and had the benefit of an income to buy the materials. He named that Sharpie 'Rocket' and launched it in 1953.

By the end of that decade the Heavyweight Sharpie was in decline and being replace by the more modern and much faster Lightweight Sharpie, so Peter went ahead and built his second Sharpie, 'Flash'. This time instead of having to work with heavy timber planks to produce a hull of around 500 lb the Lightweight utilized the then modern material known as 'plywood'. Ply was a material that was developed during WWII revolutionising the construction of aircraft for the war effort. It came into popular use for light weight yacht construction, through the pioneering work of great designers like Charles Cunningham with his Gwen 12 and many other popular designs.

Peter sailed Flash for many years and I count myself as very lucky to have been one of his crew for a period and had the opportunity to learn so much from him. After his Sharpie days Peter turned to building boats for his kids and then decided to get back into sailing himself when he built several Sabres. Peter sailed Sabres for many years until knee replacement surgery forced him to retire.

Peter was not a person who joined a club for what he could take from it, he was one of those members who looked to see what he could do for the club. In 1952 he became Assistant Treasurer at Black Rock Y.C. and when he turned 21 and legally an adult, he was elevated to the role of Treasurer in 1953. Peter held that position until 1967 except a two-year break (62 -64). The period during Peter's term as Treasurer was a key time in the club's history, when it evolved from a very humble facility to a modern licenced club in a new building which opened early in 1969. Peter's role in helping to stabilize the club's financial position enabled the transformation into the modern club it is today.

After his time as Treasurer, Peter went on to be Rear Commodore and served on Sailing Committee for many years. I had the pleasure of nominating him as a Life Member of the club in 1995 for a lifetime of service to a club and a sport he loved. In recent years Peter's amazing woodworking skills have been put to good use making model yachts. It's no surprise that some of his favourite subjects to model are the Heavyweight and Lightweight Sharpies, the classes that he sailed for many years.

Noel Sutcliffe
Black Rock Yacht Club
Unofficial historian.