Brisbane to Gladstone Adventures in Art
by Del Morrison 10 Mar 2021 22:39 PST
Trusty & Deb Gourlay with their commissioned painting of The Liquidator © Del Morrison Art
New paintings revived old memories for Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Races competitors Trevor "Trusty" and Deb Gourlay, who commissioned a painting of their boat The Liquidator, and Kerry "Dicko" Dickson, who received a painting of the Brisbane to Gladstone 2019 Yacht Race for his 80th birthday.
Trusty sailed and won his first Brisbane to Gladstone on Incredible which ironically was the sistership to The Liquidator which he and wife Deb purchased some 35 years later. Trusty competed in 17 Brisbane to Gladstone races including racing on Tony Patch's Animal Farm, Rob Robertson's Corroboree, Michael Baulkin's Corum and Jake Jacobson's Hasta la Vista. Trusty was Commodore of both the Mooloolaba Yacht Club and the Sunshine Coast Yacht Club.
Deb sailed with skipper Greg Brown on Innocent Bystander an Adams 10. Deb participated in the first all girl crew to compete in the Brisbane to Gladstone and has competed in many offshore races since.
Kerry Dickson "Dicko" first competed the Brisbane to Gladstone in 1981 on Coast Watcher with George Watson as Skipper and Navigator. Kerry describes this as his first and nearly his last race. The navigator had fully prepared for the race but they hadn't left Moreton Bay when the boom hit his head. So George's son took over as skipper and simply followed the other boats leaving Dicko - a "rookie" as second-in-command. They knew they were in trouble during a storm at night when they couldn't see the other boats and identified a light as being Lady Elliott Island which should have been on the other side of the boat! Somehow they managed to get to Gladstone.
Dicko's next ventures were with Rudyard Kipling and Ocean Venturer both owned by Peter Holm. They had many adventures on both boats but Dicko's fondest memory was when Peter Holm had arranged to take a group of 18 Marine Science students to Masthead Island after the race. Peter was not available to take them over so "Dicko" had the honour of sailing with Peter's father the late Ivan "Skipper" Holm creator of Laurabada. "Dicko" describes the experience of sailing with Ivan as wonderful. Dicko's last Brisbane to Gladstone race was on Group Therapy a Sydney boat.
The painting of The Liquidator was designed by me to include the chart of Mooloolaba where she was sailed for over 5 years. I have included the distinctive pink of their asymmetrical spinnaker, the regular crew who sailed her and locals will recognize the Mooloolaba Lighthouse and water tower in the background. Deb is also a world class paddler so the painting includes paddlers coming out of the entrance of the Mooloolah River.
The Brisbane to Gladstone painting is on an old Gladstone chart and features the Line Honours winner Black Jack and Overall Winner Envy.
Clients can commission me to work with them in designing their own custom made paintings. Clients can chose if the boat is going downwind with the spinnaker flying or upwind on a starboard or port tack. I work with the client through the process, sending them photos of the progress and once they are happy, the painting will be sent to them either framed or unframed.
These unique paintings make wonderful gifts and my commissioned work is often a gift from a partner, son or daughter to the sailor in their family.
To discuss designing and commissioning your own painting contact me on or go to the website delmorrisonart.com.au