28' Giles Normandy Sloop (1969) - IRENE

‘Irene’
A yacht hewn from the Otways and built in Geelong by Jack Stewart and launched in 1969. A classic example of Laurent Giles genius, hardiness and class.

In the early 1960s, Jack Stewart set out to build himself a yacht. He chose the Normandy 28 design by the legendary English Royal Designer award winner of 1951, Jack Laurent Giles. Jack Stewart had never built a boat himself, but over the years he had helped several other people to build theirs. He was therefore quite an experienced builder. Jack personally felled the ironbark tree in the forest in the Otway Range’s. He then let the log soak for six months in seawater, under the pier at Geelong, before starting to shape it. He built the frames of spotted gum and planked the carvel hull in New Zealand kauri. He laid the Celery Top pine deck over a base of marine plywood. The hollow mast was built of fine-grained Oregon by a leading mast-builder of the day. Jack fabricated most of the fittings himself. It took about seven years of painstaking work before the boat was launched at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club in, 1969.
Jack Stewart named his new boat after his wife, Irene. All subsequent owners have retained the name.
‘Irene’ has been dearly loved by all her owners, Jack Stewart wished he never sold her, later owner Geoff Braybrook wanted to buy her back!

‘Irene’ has visited Tasmania on many occasions including a couple of circumnavigations. Her first visit to the Wooden Boat Festival was in 2001. She attended the 2005, 2017 & 2019 editions, ‘Irene’ has cruised the East coast extensively including far North Queensland.