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William Northam, Peter O`Donnell & James Sargeant Print Page Print this page

02-August-2019
02-August-2019

Photographs supplied by Peter F Williams

Lake Northam commemorates William Northam, Peter O`Donnell and James Sargeant who sailed the yacht "Barrenjoey" to win the Gold Medal at the 1964 Olympic Games held in Tokyo, Japan.

William Northam took up yachting in 1951, when he was 46, and he sailed on Sir Frank Packer's boat Gretel in the Americas Cup challenge of 1962.

The following year he commissioned the 5.5 metre Barrenjoey, the boat in which he was to sail in Tokyo. There with crewmen Dick Sargeant and Pod O'Connell,  Northam won the first, fourth and fifth races and in a notable act of good sportsmanship disqualified himself in the sixth. At the end of the final race the 59 year old had won the gold by almost 700 points, becoming the oldest Australian Olympic gold medallist and the first Australian to win in yachting. 

Location

Address:Broadway, Victoria Park, Camperdown, 2050
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -33.885073
Long: 151.192995
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Natural Feature
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Sport
Link:https://www.sahof.org.au/hall-of-fa…

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Thursday 13th July, 1967
Front Inscription

Plaque :

The Council of the City of Sydney

Lake Northam was so named and the symbolic replica of the yacht "Barrenjoey" was erected on 13 July 1967 to honour

William H. Northam, C.B.E.

Peter "Pod" O`Donnell

James "Dick" Sargeant

Who sailed  "Barrenjoey" to become Gold Medal winners in the 5.5 metre yachting event at the 1964 Olympic Games held in Tokyo, Japan

William H. Northam, C.B.E., was at that time an Alderman of the City.

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au