RIP Frank Bethwaite

[DickDastardly 251]

I understand Frank has passed at the age of 90 something. A man whose insight and passion were the very genesis of every high performance skiff on the water today. Fair winds Frank.

[Jethrow 207]

That is sad indeed. Truly one of the great innovators in our sport...

[knobblyoldjimbo 30]

As all things must pass this is one of the certainties of life ie it ends at some stage.

 

Sad to hear that FB has passed but glad to know that he's left behind such a magnificent legacy.

 

Good innings Frank.

 

KO

[Phil 18]

Vale Frank Bethwaite, Frank built my Manly Junior foils back in the 60s then in the 70s I had the opportunity to help Nicky build and sail her World champion Cherub 'Nix'. Frank was also a company director of Performance Sailcraft whilst I was working there building Lasers [starboard Products built and supplied the Laser foils and grab rails in timber]. I also had the opportunity of working on the prototype Tasar [Nova] then crewing for him at Northbridge on one of the first production boats imported to Australia. He will be missed, my thoughts go to his family who remain friends to today.

[DickDastardly 251]

A slighty out of date Bio. Extraordinary!

 

Frank Bethwaite

 

Airline Pilot

 

Frank was born in Wanganui, a town on the east coast of New Zealand's north island, in 1920. During camping holidays spent at Lake Taupo his father introduced him to the water with a collapsible canvas canoe. When he was 10 years old, he graduated to a kayak with a sail.

 

It wasn't long before he built a 16ft sailing canoe which he sailed either in the Wanganui River or, in favourable weather, off the west coast at Castlecliff. However, he was also interested in model aeroplanes and designed and built many innovative models. (Frank attributes his later boat designing skills to the study of aerodynamics and meteorology learned during this time.) Manfred Curry's "The Aerodynamics of Sails" had just been published and made a tremendous impression. "Sailing Theory and Practice" by Marchaj was another fundamental influence 30 years later. He played normal school team sports at Wanganui Collegiate School, but his preference was for sailing and model building.

 

A 12ft long, 6ft wide sailing dinghy, the "Idle Along" was designed in 1935 to take advantage of Wellington's strong winds and Frank built "Merlin" which he sailed it at Wanganui Sailing Club, and later in National Championships at Paramata and in Wellington Harbour.

 

RNZAF (Royal New Zealand Air Force)

 

In 1938, Frank joined the Civil Reserve of Pilots where he learned to fly with the Wanganui Aero Club. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the RNZAF (Royal New Zealand Air Force). After graduating from the first intake of pilots, he was retained in New Zealand as an instructor (much to his disappointment ) and spent two years training pilots at the Woodbourne Air Station in the South Island. From there he was chosen as a Test Pilot to fly and check out planes which had been serviced. From the last two years of the war he was flying bombing planes (Venturas) on operations in the Pacific. He attained the rank of Squadron Leader and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross for outstanding service.

Nel was a Section Officer in Codes and Cyphers with the Womens' RNZAF and she and Frank met in 1942 in Hamilton. Nel spent two years at the RNZAF Flying Boat Station at Lauthala Bay in Suva, Fiji, while Frank was on active service in the Solomons' area. They were married just before the end of the war in 1945.

 

When commitments with the air force were finished in 1946, Frank was invited to join Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL). This was a Government owned airline which established the flying boat service between Auckland and Sydney and Melbourne and Christchurch as well as on the Pacific route to Raratonga and Tahiti. In those days the crossing from Auckland to Sydney took about eight hours and this made for prolonged periods away from base. Frank rose from Second Officer to Captain by 1955. Tasman Airways later became Air New Zealand.

 

Nel and Frank settled in Torbay, a coastal village on the east coast of the north shore in Auckland in 1946. Roster instability with the airline precluded regular activities such as weekend sailing. Instead, model aeroplane pursuits moved to the forefront again. A friend, Les Wright, invented a reliable radio control system that enabled endurance flying. Frank designed a model glider with the object of trying for an endurance record. The model needed to stay aloft and stay within sight so that it could be manoeuvred to take advantage of the coastline breezes and thermal lifts.

 

There was an initial problem with seagulls pecking at the tail of the models but gradually, as the designs became more streamlined, the planes flew higher and higher, eventually at twice the height of the birds. The model had to be fast enough (weight and size) to not blow backwards in the strongest gust but the sinking speed had to be low enough so that the model would remain supported by updrafts in the lightest lull. After five years of testing various designs and studying thermal lifts along the coastline, Frank won the world endurance record of over nine hours aloft in 1952.

 

During this time, Nel and Frank had two children, Christine and Mark. Frank had taught Nel to sail in the Idle Along during the war years, but because he could not sail in regular club races, he gave the boat away to a neighbour. John Spencer, a small boat designer, had a boatshed in Browns Bay nearby. John had designed the Cherub class boat which was just beginning to become popular in New Zealand. Frank bought Cherub #47. Although the airline roster hadn't improved, he managed to sail it with Nel, Christine and Mark from time to time.

 

Two more children arrived (Nicky and Julian) and then the family moved to Sydney in 1958. Frank had been headhunted by a scientific research facility, CSIRO, to take charge of flying operations for the cloud seeding operations. His experience with flying and observations of weather patterns from flying the Tasman for over ten years made his input invaluable. It was the most interesting work in which Frank had ever participated. Essentially, this was early experimentation into why some clouds rained and others did not. The main experiments were situated over the Darling Downs, the Snowy area, and the Ord River in the Kimberleys in north-western Australia. Frank also spent some time in Israel assisting the setup of cloud seeding experiments there.

 

Northbridge, on Sydney's lower north shore where the family settled, had no open areas to fly model aeroplanes, so Frank's attention was again focused on sailing. The local sailing club raced VJs, so while Christine and Mark sailed with them, Frank and Nel sailed the Cherub amongst a group of Seniors' dinghies. They became enthusiastic members of the Northbridge Sailing Club. Because there was no suitable small boat to enable Nicky and Julian to learn to sail in safety, he designed the Northbridge Junior (now 9er), a small scow with a single sail, simple controls and a flat deck that did not hold water. When capsized, it could be righted easily and sailed on.

 

The next step was to introduce a class which would be suitable for the 12 to 14 year olds. Another of John Spencer's designs was the Flying Ant which Mark and his friend Ron Holland had badgered John into designing for them. Frank built the first two boats in his garage and they were sailed by Christine and Mark.

 

In 1963, Frank was approached by a group of the Seniors' Dinghy sailors to help design a two-handed lightweight racing dinghy that could be sailed by both men and women. The Northbridge Senior was a collaborative effort that took shape on Frank's living room floor. The first one was 14 feet long and 5' 9" wide with a mainsail and jib of 100 sq ft, and weighed 140 lbs. This was the beginning of the Northbridge Senior or NS14 class and quickly became very popular, with many differing designs being built over the next ten years.

 

Up until this time the Northbridge Sailing Club had operated from a narrow strip of sand on Clive Park in Sailors' Bay. This was totally inadequate for the growing numbers of members which had resulted from the influx of new designs. Frank was a prime mover with a group of enthusiasts into the building of a much-needed clubhouse.This was completed in 1965 and Frank was awarded Life Membership for his leadership in this project.

 

By 1968, the cloud seeding experiment had been abandoned when the Radiophysics Department withdrew its finances in favour of the development of the radio telescope at Parkes to monitor the Moon Landing project. At the age of 48, Frank was retrenched and after a short period with the Qantas Training Scheme, decided to commercialise what he had been doing voluntarily, and that was to design and build masts, centreboards and sailing dinghies. So Starboard Products began, first of all by making centreboards in a backyard shed and then moving into sprawling premises in Naremburn. To begin with, there was just Frank making the goods, with Nel keeping the books, but gradually the company grew.

 

The next project was a request from the Northbridge Club to design a craft for the 16 to 18 year olds. After careful research as to weight and stature, the A-12 or advanced Twelve came into being. This was a 12 foot monocoque craft with trapeze and single sail. It was similar to a Moth, but much stronger. It attracted a good number of adherents, gracing the waters of Sailors Bay and elsewhere with its sky-blue sails making a dramatic statement as they danced across the water like a ballet corps.

 

Nova and Tasar

 

By 1970, with the development of new technology to improve the efficiency of the sails and rig, the NS14 was easily controllable by light-weight crews. Unfortunately this meant that adult men and women were out-classed in races and the tendency was for women to be supplanted by eight-year olds as crew. To rectify this problem, Frank adapted the latest Champion NS14, which had been designed by son Mark, added larger sails and introduced a class rule which prohibited light-weight crews, brought back the women and established a new class - the Nova.

 

In 1972, Mark was the Australian representative to sail a Flying Dutchman in the Olympics which were sailed at Kiel in Germany. Frank and Nel accompanied the Australian team, with Frank advising on meteorology. Whilst there, he met with Ian Bruce whose company had introduced the Laser which has become the most widely sailed dinghy in history. Ian visited Sydney, sailed the Nova and requested that a similar design be produced as a two-person dinghy. Frank then spent six months in Montreal where he produced a prototype retaining the main characteristics of the Nova, but deepening the hull to cater for the colder waters of Canada, a sloping bow and with Ian designed the ergonomically efficient cockpit. This new boat was named the Tasar.

 

At first Tasars were built and marketed in Canada, the USA and Europe, and over 800 were sold in the first year. It was not until 1976, that the first Tasars were imported into Australia. From then on they were manufactured by Starboard Products and over 3000 have been sold world-wide. After an intensive evaluation, the Royal Australian Navy adopted the Tasar as its training and recreation craft. The Tasar was introduced into Japan and World Championships are held in the northern and southern hemisphere countries on an eighteen month rotation. These have been held in Australia, Canada, England, Japan and USA. The Tasar is now an International Class recognised by the I.S.A.F.

 

1976 was a big year for the Bethwaite family, with Mark again winning Australian representation to the Montreal Olympics in the Flying Dutchman. This time Frank was also officially a member of the Australian Olympic Team as their meteorologist and the wind data he collected from Kingston, Ontario (the venue for the sailing) has helped to identify one of the behaviours of wind as outlined in Frank's book, High Performance Sailing. Also in 1976, Nicky and Julian teamed up to win the Cherub World Championships held in Adelaide, South Australia. Their Cherub was equipped with the new over-rotating rig that Frank (and Mark) had developed on the NS14 and Tasar.

 

As Julian started his sailing career in 18ft skiffs during the late 70s, Frank was right alongside advising on hull and rig design. It wasn't long before Julian developed this expertise even further but it started one of the most exciting collaborations seen in skiff sailing. To this day, Frank and Julian operate as a team, and it is no accident that if you half close your eyes and envisage the Tasar, modern 18s, 49er, and 29er, there are far more similarities than differences.

 

Frank's latest project, the sailing simulator, developed in collaborationwith scientist Prof Norman Saunders and researcher Jonathon Binns (currently completing his PhD), is occupying most of his time. Since 2001 this has undergone rapid development so that it can now accelerate learning to sail, allowing novices to take their boats out on the water, after a couple of hours on the simulator, with confidence and enjoyment. Frank is also completing his 2nd book, Higher Performance Sailing, a definitive text on apparent wind sailing.

[olaf hart 659]

A legend and a true gentleman.

Franks work speaks for itself.

[Mel 8]

Frank you had such a big influence on not just sailing but my family.

 

My thoughts are with your family now.

 

Thank you.

[DSmith 0]

A true gentleman who took the time to speak to everybody.

[Evo 21]

Fair winds Frank....yer a great bloke and a sailing legend....thanks for making every question worth asking.

 

Condolences to Mark, Nicky, Julian and families.

[couchsurfer 220]

.........sail-on,Frank

 

...next shooting star I see is yours!

[furcoat 0]

Vale FB and thanks for everything you did for the sport.

[Jabbawocky 0]

He is up there looking at the patterns of wind on the water

[skiffsailor_aus 0]

A true icon in our sport. RIP Frank! Fair winds

 

Condolences to his family today

[GybeSet 19]

great character always seen at the appropriate prizegiving & event even very recently

 

some of his stuff is etched into the vernacular heh

 

sail on Frank & avoid the 4th mode unless completely necessary !

[Doug Lord 1,219]

Thanks Mr. Bethwaite! Your work continues to inspire....

[MR.CLEAN 3,917]

A giant. Sail on FB.

[narecet 0]

There are very, very few authors who clearly are geniuses not only in what they know and do, but in their ability to communicate it so effectively and clearly.

 

Frank Bethwaite was one of those incredibly rare few, and further was clearly a great man in all regards.

 

Best wishes for the family, and thanks for all they have done for all of us.

[Amati 1,530]

I always think guys like Frank will go on forever.

 

And as I continue to try to understand his thoughts, he will, at least in my noggin.

 

So I'm going to play Bach's 2nd Suite in d minor for him this afternoon. I'm still trying to understand that too.

 

You had a great run Frank. Thanks.

 

A lot of people will miss you.

 

Oh. My wife thinks I should name the canoe I'm building Frank.

 

Done, even if it is a double ender......

 

Paul

[sail_like_a_girl 0]

A true legend, Frank will be missed. May be rest in peace.

Condolences to the Bethwaite family.

[doghouse 124]

Oh man, crushing news. RIP Frank.

[BalticBandit 7]

Thank you Frank for uncountable hours of passion on the water - yours and mine.

 

Thank you for enlightening me to what is going on in the mechanics of this sport in ways that no-one else ever has (particularly most sailmakers).

 

You contributed untold joy to this world.

[40000 0]

A legend who moved the performance of dinghies up a league! RIP

[mustang__1 298]

a true legend who will be missed, but not forgotten. The bible of skiff sailing will be oft referenced for decades to come.

[yachtyakka 0]

RIP Frank,

[johnnysaint 4]

Only met him once. Spent a couple of hours chatting and he unknowingly inspired a successful Aus 14.

 

Sail on Frank. Fair winds & fast boats.

[DickDastardly 251]

He is up there looking at the patterns of wind on the water

And I bet thinking up some new theory

[flashy 0]

The loss of a real gentleman and a first class mind. My thoughts go out to Franks family.

[WestCoast 336]

I can still remember when Frank called me to talk Tasars. I thought it was a put on at first.... We'd just purchased the rights to produce the boats in North America (we still proudly import them) and he just called to wish us well and let us know to call him if we needed anything.

 

I was basically in awe that he would take the time to reach out. I felt like a little kid talking to great ballplayer.

 

 

 

This is a major loss to the sailing community. Sincerest of condolences to the Bethwaite family at this time.

[Capt Araldite 0]

My son & myself, together & seperatly have spent many years racing against Frank in Tasars and always enjoyed his company on & off the water, a true gentleman & a legend, RIP.

[halfcolours 1]

Heaven just started to plane.

 

High Performance Sailing taught me how little I knew about sailing... It's sad to see the passing of someone so brilliant and passionate in his field. RIP.

[robjwilkinson 2]

Hope right now he is on a solo skiff, blasting along...one boat, amongst many...all blasting along. What an interesting life this man had, its thanks to people like this that some dork like me can enjoy the fascinating sport/hobby that is sailing. RIP

[Windward Mark 0]

My son & myself, together & seperatly have spent many years racing against Frank in Tasars and always enjoyed his company on & off the water, a true gentleman & a legend, RIP.

 

I remember sailing with him in the tasar for a couple of races, was quite an experience.

[Reht 6]

A loss to the sport, but he won't ever be forgotten. His work is so influential in what we're sailing today and what people are still designing that even years from now his influence will be apparent.

 

Condolences to the Bethwaites.

[peterivanac 13]

RIP Frank.

May the wings that created the best dighies in the world on earth serve you well in heaven.

[bluelaser2 3]

Life is so very short.

 

My handle (Bluelaser2) refers to the first sailboat I ever owned.

 

I will never forget the first time I eased sheets and felt the breeze come forward; a revelation.

 

A man talented with words and intense practical know-how. If our language were more accurate, we could call him an artist foremost.

 

He lived in the air and on the water to a greater extent than many are able to. He shared those pleasures. An admirable life lived.

[Manfred 56]

Never met the Man, but am so very sad.

I owe him so much of my sailing pleasures.

Thank you Frank, and smooth sailing, where ever you are.

Manfred

[Evo 21]

i reckon Frank is on patrol in a Spitfire somewhere about 15,000 ft above Broome looking at the daily formation of cumulus

 

true kiwi

[Edake 0]

Well what do you say about this guy other than sailing owes so much to him. I bought my first Cherub from his shop in Northbridge. They were affectionately named a coffin box. That year we sailed off Henley. What a series! The Nationals were light but the Worlds were not and Julian and Nicky were great. The light weight designs were beaten as the Bethwaite designs excelled. 35 years later we meet again during a Tasar regatta and he remembers those days and those that competed back then in Adelaide. RIP Frank you are a LEGEND!

[hoom 639]

Hail the legend!

 

 

Kinda odd to see the NZ birth mentioned but not that he spent most of his life in the West Island though

[Hobbs 0]

Sad to hear the news. Great man and he was a regular feature when sailing in my 20's in Sydney.

 

He gave me one of my most treasured memories from sailing with a simple, understated and honest compliment.

 

A true gentlemen and he set a standard that few will reach in a hundred lifetimes!

[cantp1 3]

Frank's passing has left a massive void in the sailing community. What a legend.

Thoughts go out to JB and Harry and family.

[Beeracuda 0]

While sitting in a hotel room in Amsterdam with lots of rain outside and nothing to do, I opened up High Performance Sailing for what I thought would be a quick read. After all, by that time I had sailed for a number of years and was sure that this would be some kind of refresher and maybe just a bit of additional sailing knowledge. I was blown away. Took me nearly 4 days of reading and re-reading to comprehend what this guy was saying. I still pull that book out fairly often. Its safe to say that I still learn something from it every time I pick it up. Only an absolutely brilliant mind could have come up with all the stuff that's in there. Whether your a sailor or a soarer Frank's book is the most useful thing you will ever read.

 

Sail on Frank.

[foulbottom 0]

One of my prized possessions is an autographed copy of High Performance Sailing. An incredible mind and legacy. Sail on Frank!

[tasar me, dude 0]

Sad news. He was truly one of the great scientific minds of sailing and an expert at experimentation. Very humble and always willing to share information. The Tasar class will miss his contributions dearly. Thanks for developing a boat that has brought so much joy to my family and friends. Your legacy will continue...sail on Frank.

 

 

Tasar 2599

[DickDastardly 251]

A classic image to remember Frank by. I laughed out loud the instant I saw it - being a Director of said sailing club and a frequent spectator of Frank's antics.

 

From daughter Nicky's bio on Sail-World

 

"Frank Bethwaite doing his last rig experiments driving around the carpark at Woollahra Sailing Club in March 2012. Although too ill to write the final chapter in his next book, he did dictate it, and finished the work before he died on Saturday morning." Bethwaite Design

[twist & depth 0]

Nice innings Frank, well played.

 

What a remarkable professional and family legacy he has left.

 

My friend Iain MacFarlane was a real Bethwaite fan, and when High Performance Sailing came out, he gave me an autographed copy, which I still have, cherish, and use.

I saw Julian on the beach one day, and mentioned that I thought the book had a lot in it, haha, and he made the observation that it was best to use it as a reference manual, which I continue to regard as very good advice. As much as the enormous knowledge in that book, the hidden benefit is that with Franks method of explaining how he arrived at a position, he educated you in applying the same process to all of the questions involved in the sport.

[RogerJolly 0]

A revolutionary thinker.

[Mambo Kings 679]

A lot of lead is about to get chucked out upstairs.

 

Angels will be going assymetric I reckon.

[BronzeWing 5]

I too have an autographed copy of High Performance Sailing. Listened to a fabulous talk by Frank in Auckland about the 39er concept. Lucky enough to be able to give him a ride back to his hotel near the airport. What a wonderful unassuming man. A quiet genius.

 

Condolences to his family.

[Peelman 0]

Another great sailing legend has made the journey to the big race course that never ends. RIP Frank

[5X-MOANA 9]

Growing up far away from any ocean and with no decent sailing literature in my native language I went into a bookstore just hours after landing in Australia for the first time (505 worlds, Townsville 1996).

"High Performance Sailing" gave me answers to many questions and even better, gave me lots of new questions ;-)

The rest, as they say, is history.

 

What a man!

 

RIP Frank, you made life more joyful for many!

[Trimariner 7]

To the Bethwaite family, your loss is shared by many. Frank once spoke to the fledgling Trimaran Yacht Club of Victoria many years ago at a time when there was great opposition to the developing class. We all appreciated and benefited from his insight. His open minded lifes work will live on as an inspiration to us all. With thanks.

[Dag-Sabot 0]

I have it from a good source that he has access to bottom-less fries in the big yacht club in the sky. Im honestly surprised no one nominated him for the Nobel prize, but gave Obama one, while he had two wars on the simmer, just sayin'.

[AClass USA 230 48]

I remember when I bought High Performance Sailing, I was like a kid on Christmas morning when I opened it up and started to explore all it had to offer. Thanks Frank for your contributions to our sport, wish I could have met you along the way!

[M@AYC 88]

I've done a bit of skiff sailing, and enjoyed it immensely. RIP Mr Bethwaite, and thank you for the joy you have brought to so many

[genealex 15]

If the only thing he'd done had been to give us "High performance sailing" and "Higher performance sailing" he'd already be a giant. Farewell Mr. Bethwaite, very few have contributed as much to the sport as you have, I'm eternally grateful.

[andym 0]

I got moth foils from Frank back late 70's & early 80's. Seemed like it took days to collect, but what I learnt still amazes.

Frank took the understanding of physics is sailing forward like no one else has & will his work will be referred to for years to come.

RIP & condolences to the Bethwaite family.

[skiffs r us 0]

For those who would like to pay their respects to Frank a celebration of his life will be held at Northbridge sailing club on Sunday the 20th of may at 4pm.

[damp_freddie 0]

Condolences to his family while we also celebrate his life, generosity and legacy.

 

As a former tasar sailor I feel very priveledge to be phoned up one day to be asked my opinion of the then 39er project which became the basis for the 59er and the book "higher performance sailing" . That was Frank- always involved with other sailors and working things out from the bottom up- empirically-as you can read from his works and interviews.

 

Our first cadets have gone up to the 29er last Sunday and I was thinking of him and Julian as I smiled at the young guns getting a thill in 20knts wind.

 

I bow, smile and wave good bye to a man who pushed the boundaries and kept the club sailor to heart.

[freewheel510 0]

This took me aback. The last week, I've been re-reading pieces of "High Performance Sailing" I didn't understand the first time through.

 

Am sad I didn't get a chance to thank Frank B personally for "High Performance Sailing". What an amazing body of work Frank provided us! He had a great understanding of physics combined with the ability to give concrete examples that bring home the message and make the phenomena clear. Sooooo good!

 

Am expecting to see trip turbulators added to some angels' wings soon.

[yowie 0]

A special and most unassuming man. RIP Frank.

Bought gear from him in early 70's and was passed by him on a reach in a Tasar Nats in 1995 going two to our one in 15's, he would have been 75 at the time.

He also had the weirest thing I ever saw out the back of the shed. A canted over reeeversing sail rig on a canted under reversing almost cat, not quite Polynesian proa. Rig was designed to lift the hulls and foils including rudders designed to slide sideways. Apparently it was uncontrollable directionally.

That man's definitely left a mark. Very well done.

[scarecow 0]

Frank Bethwaite's 1995 book revolutionised my teenaged enjoyment of sailing.

 

The lift theory he wrote about early on in the book and the connection between sails and aircraft wings cemented my feelings and led me to a commercial pilot licence; a path that has given me the greatest of pleasure.

 

Vale Frank Bethwaite.