By any measure, Hugh Treharne was a titan of Australian sailing. His passing on 24 June 2025, at the age of 84, marks the end of an extraordinary chapter in the sport – one defined not just by exceptional results on the water, but also by his intellect, generosity, and lifelong commitment to growing sailing from the grassroots to the elite level.
While many will rightly remember him as the tactician aboard Australia II in the legendary 1983 America’s Cup victory – the moment Australia broke the New York Yacht Club’s 132-year hold on the Cup – Treharne’s influence stretched much deeper and wider. His sailing career spanned decades, continents, and classes, and he was a familiar, respected figure in everything from skiff sailing to offshore campaigns.
Born in Forbes, New South Wales, in 1940, Hugh’s early years were shaped by water. His family moved to Manly in Sydney during the mid-1940s, where his father took over the Manly Boatshed. Living above the business, young Hugh immersed himself in boatbuilding and sailing. By six, he was crafting his own small boats using his mother’s tea towels as sails. That raw enthusiasm evolved quickly into skill. He cut his teeth in open skiffs—12-footers, 16-footers, and the iconic 18s—earning state and national titles, and culminating in a win at the 1970 World 18ft Skiff Championship.
His sailing CV reads like a hall of fame roll call: 30 Sydney Hobart Yacht Races, six Admiral’s Cup campaigns, victories in the Fastnet Race (1971), World Half Ton Cup (1975), and World One Ton Cup (1971). He was helmsman of Impetuous during the tragic 1979 Fastnet, and contributed to Australia’s win in that year’s Admiral’s Cup—the nation’s finest offshore racing result at the time. Closer to home, he claimed national titles across a wide range of classes and earned a reputation as one of the sharpest minds in Australian yachting.
As a tactician, Treharne had few peers. His ability to read wind shifts, his calm in pressure moments, and his deep understanding of sail trim and boat design made him a go-to strategist for generations of top-tier campaigns. In match racing, he was a pioneer—winning the Lymington Cup in the UK and Liberty Cup in the US—and helped establish Australia’s international credentials well before the nation became a global sailing powerhouse.
But it was 1983 where his brilliance was cemented in public memory. On the afterguard of Australia II, Treharne’s role was pivotal. Facing Dennis Conner’s Liberty, Australia was down 3–1 in the best-of-seven series. Treharne’s tactical acumen and a cleverly designed spinnaker—of his own making—helped turn the tide. In a nail-biting final race, his wind calls on the last downwind leg enabled Australia II to overtake the American boat and cross the line victorious. It was a moment that gripped the nation and shifted the global sailing balance forever.
Though that win was career-defining, Treharne didn’t rest on laurels. He returned for the 1987 America’s Cup defence in Fremantle, and continued to coach and advise top crews throughout the 1990s and 2000s. His sailmaking business, Blue Peter Sails, became a trusted name, and the family-owned Treharne Moorings remained a cornerstone of Sydney’s marine services.
In the late 1990s, he commissioned and sailed Bright Morning Star, a 52-foot timber yacht that doubled as both a competitive boat and an educational platform. Through her, Treharne taught hundreds—young and old—the finer points of offshore sailing. It was classic Hugh: turning personal passion into community opportunity. That same spirit extended to inclusive sailing—he donated his $5,000 Boating Industry Association Hall of Fame award in 2013 to Sailability Manly and Paralympian Dan Fitzgibbon.
His accolades reflected his stature: an OAM in 1984, inaugural inductee into the Australian Sailing Hall of Fame (2017), CYCA Hall of Fame (2018), and Boating Industry Association Hall of Fame (2013). But the honours, though richly deserved, were never what drove him. Treharne was known for his humility and for lifting others. Whether offering tactical advice to world-class sailors or helping a newcomer tie their first bowline, he gave his time freely, always with a quiet confidence and a fierce love of the sport.
Hugh’s wife, Jeanine Treharne, an accomplished sailor in her own right, survives him along with their children Robbie, Annaliese, and Sam. Together, they were a force in Australian sailing, well-known and well-loved within clubs, marinas, and regatta tents across the country.
For sailors on both sides of the Tasman, Treharne’s legacy is one of substance and inspiration. His fingerprints are on decades of sailing history—be it through sails, tactics, coaching, or leadership. He bridged old-school seamanship with modern competition and made sailing better for it.
New Zealanders will remember him not only for his Cup win but for the values he championed: sportsmanship, mastery, and mateship. He was the kind of sailor who could sit comfortably in any yacht club bar—from Sydney to Auckland—and command respect not with bluster, but with quiet insight and rich stories drawn from a life well sailed.
Fair winds, Hugh. And thank you.
