Two Kelly Cups and more than a dozen season Gold Medals say Guy Irwin is anything but a ‘clueless’ sailor.

Yet that was the name of his first yacht, when he joined the Amateurs in 1998.

His nippy Endeavour 26 was soon re-named ‘Clewless’, and by 2004 had twice won the club championship. This was a harbinger of Guy’s competitive drive and methodical competence, both at the helm and when preparing his boats.

Since recognised as one of the SASC’s most successful skippers, he also made huge contributions to the club’s sailing program as its chair of racing during the first decade of the new century.

A founder of the Super 30 fleet in 2004/05, Guy played a major role in attracting new yachts to Mosman Bay at a time when other fleet numbers were dwindling. 

He achieved this with an affable but tireless mix of persuasive skills akin to those used by diplomats and shop stewards. He also penned regular, detailed race reports for the SASC News and made a point of regularly introducing new skippers and crews to their future Amateurs club mates. One of those new members was his son Lachlan.

After messing about in boats from an early age, Guy also served for 15 years as a submariner in the Royal Australian Navy.

A highly accomplished sailor, both on and below the surface, he described some of those experiences to Ian Macintosh.