The Yachts

King Billy

King Billy

 

Built from King Billy Pine and designed by Australian John King, Phil Bennett’s boat is ideally named. She contested the 50th Hobart in 1994, placing fourth in Division F, finished 50th overall in 1995, and along with the multitude, retired from the 1998 race. Returning for the 2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart, Bennett said: “After the ’98 race, my wife cancelled my license to go south, but it has been reinstated for this one, provided the weather doesn’t look like a repeat of 1998.” Before heading off, this lovely wooden boat benefitted from her builder, Andrew Hay, giving her a thorough going over and she finished 14th overall and second in the Corinthian Division, after leading their Division overall for the first day. King Billy won Division 3 IRC in the 2018 Ponant Sydney Noumea race. Mrs Bennett has obviously given her husband the nod to return for the 75th Sydney Hobart. You can’t do the 50th and not the 75th, now can you?

 

Competitor Details

Yacht Name King Billy
Sail Number 4966
Owner Phil Bennett
Skipper Phil Bennett (5)
Navigator John Stephenson (5) and John Taylor (17)
Crew B Wright (16), C McCormack, A Gale, D Dalziel (2), B Gillett
State NSW
Club RSYS
Type John King / Custom
Designer John King (Aus)
Builder Sailors Bay Boatshed
LOA 11.5
Beam 3.8
Draft 2.1