Lionheart

The Yacht's Story

Jesse Martin and Lionheart hold the record for the youngest non-stop unassisted circumnavigation.
Departed Mebourne 7th December 1998, arrived 31st October 1999.

From Michael Jessop (original owner) Aug 2009:

"I don't have any written records of our building the S&S34, so must rely on memory.

We built her around 1979/80. I believe we were about the 98th hull from the mould, though that's by no means certain. We did have the original deck with the submarine type forehatch. At that time there were 4 other 34s in the yard at Swarbricks. One left just as we vacated the mould, which I think belonged to Dr Stan Read. Also Roger Passmore's Aquilla was there at the same time. A pale blue 34 called 'Geordie Bay' was there, owned and built by 4 or 5 young blokes. If I remember correctly they sold the boat soon after. Also another 34 which was grey in colour owned by a guy called Garnet, who I never saw again so he probably sailed away.

We launched our yacht and christened her Petrel, though I don't recall registering her with the S&S34 association. I do remember being approached to join, but don't think it was our cup of tea at the time. Besides we intended to sail her away, never to return... the best laid plans and all that.

After only 6 months ownership, we sold her to a real estate baron, first name Richard but I forget the surname. He renamed her Lionheart of Perth. After one year he was in financial difficulty and offered to sell her back to me, but alas... I couldn't afford her. I believe she was bought and based in Rockingham for a few years after that, then eventually sold and moved to the Eastern States.

All contact was lost until eventually we saw her in the media (front page of The West Australian) as the vessel that Jessie Martin was intending to sail around the world in an attempt to beat David Dicks record. We contacted Jessie's committee to confirm that she was, in fact, our yacht and was convinced beyond doubt when we saw the interior, which was quite unique. We were the first (I believe) to put 4 windows in the cabin trunk instead of 5, and we designed and had built a custom stem fitting. There were several other features of the fitout that confirmed her as our boat.

That's about all I recall of our brief ownership of the fine ship Petrel. I hope it's of some use to you."

About the Owners

(May 2005)
I've been doing up Lionheart for the past couple of years including a new Yanmar engine, underwater refit, cabin and deck repaint in the colours when Jesse had it (grey and white), some sanding using around 263kg of sandpaper (or so it felt) and a few gallons of varnish. I have tried to keep her as original as possible, even down to the notes Jesse wrote on the roof as he was chatting on the HF radio! And the interior is just as you see it in photos. I still run the sails that came with the boat (although I changed from the around the world ones to the newer ones) and the sail number SM2000 has been retained as has the Aust reg number (cant remember it at the moment). I race the boat every Wednesday (came equal first in the summer series) and in the twilights in summer. I also enter some trophy races in the club and take her to Geelong Race Week every year entering in the Passage Race.
Last year I featured the boat in a brief story about repowering in Trade-A-Boat mag. Down the track I really should do a feature on her although I don't like banging on about my own boat in the mag so much.

Geoff is also editor of Trade-A-Boat Magazine

Circumnavigators   Photos  

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