'1955 was an unexpected bonus, as I co-skippered the 57-foot Sydney cutter Even to line honours with its owner, the late John Palmer, of Palmers retail stores, Sydney. "I had received an invitation from John to partner him on the voyage, but he didn't release the information to the respective yacht clubs or the media until 24 hours before the start of the race. The media obviously went to town on the disclosure reporting at the time that it was 'one of the best kept secrets of the race'. I fear they greatly exaggerated. "It is true, John had asked me on numerous occasions to enter with him as co-skipper in the race. At the eleventh hour I accepted and flew to Sydney on the Saturday prior to the race. I knew Even was capable of winning, we had previously sailed her together in the 320 mile Montague Island race in October, recording the second fastest time behind Solo. "At the start, John Palmer donned us all in uniforms of scarlet jerseys, which many onlookers remarked afterwards looked a fine picture against the backdrop of the well-designed Even, painted all white and with her big spread of sail aloft catching the light easterly breeze. The jerseys were discreetly discarded once past Sydney Heads, however, as we knuckled down to the job at hand. "On a shorter tack from Sydney's north shore, we were able to reach the open sea some 15 minutes in front of Kurrewa IV after we had both gone right into Watsons Bay. We ran into heavy rain squalls as we passed Botany Bay, which clipped our earlier speeds of up to l2-knots. "At around 3pm, Kurrewa IV had taken the lead by about two miles with Defiance close on our tail in third place followed by Vic Meyer's Solo." After a gap of some three miles, Janzoon led a group of yachts which included; Nell Gwyn, Carol J, Southern Myth, Trade Winds and the redoubtable Winston Churchill. "We encountered many calm patches during the event and I would have personally preferred heavier going and a good blow. However, we had a few good runs averaging 160 miles a day for the first three days. On the fourth, we were becalmed for several hours and progressed slowly, covering a mere 67 miles in 24 hours. "Our fastest spinnaker run was between Maria and Tasman Islands when she made 12-knots at times. It was on this stretch of the course that we again encountered the Livingston brothers' Kurrewa IV, in a tremendous battle approaching Tasman Island: