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Navigation in the pre-computer era was an artform and few were as good as Heather Lidgard, who played a key role in opening doors for women in sailing.
Her catalogue of successes in offshore and short-handed sailing is vast and varied and included helping the New Zealand team win the 1971 Southern Cross Cup, joining forces with husband John to comfortably win the cruising division in the 1987 Melbourne to Osaka two-handed race, becoming the first woman to compete in the two-handed Round North Island race in 1977, wins in the Coastal Classic and being navigator on board the first all-women's crew for the Sydney-Hobart Race.
A few have reflected recently on Heather Lidgard's life and contribution following her passing, aged 88, on May 15.
"Mum broke through the glass ceiling of gender equality in yachting," said son Kevin Lidgard. "She made a statement that women could do it on a level footing or better than men. I’m not sure that’s why Mum did it, but it certainly rubbed off on a lot of people around her, including me.
"She just wanted to succeed and be involved. Navigation was a gap so she took on that gap and excelled at it. She also made magnificent bacon and egg pies to take away for the weekend. It was a great partnership with Dad - 67 years married."
Dad is John Lidgard, a renowned sailor, designer and boat builder, who achieved considerable success as an ocean racer. He did most of it with Heather alongside, plotting their course in an era when celestial navigation was really the only way to steer a course around the ocean.
Heather was self-taught, having initially picked it up from Mary Blewitt's 1950 publication Celestial Navigation for Yachtsmen, and was quickly exalted as one of the best around.
She always knew where they were, even as crew around her became increasingly twitchy as they bore down on the Wellington coastline in thick fog as they raced back from Hobart. John shared the general nervousness on board and felt they should turn around to wait it out until they could get a celestial sighting, but Heather's skill saw them pop out exactly where she thought they were to win the race.
Runaway sailing up the Derwent to finish second in the 1971 Sydney-Hobart Race, with Heather Lidgard as navigator.
There was also the occasion in 1971 when the triumphant Southern Cross Cup contingent raced back from Hobart. After 12 days of calm conditions, Waianawa, Pathfinder and Runaway all converged on North Cape side by side.
"During the night we gave everyone the slip on Runaway," Kevin said. "Coming down the coast there was a rain squall with Pathfinder bringing the breeze from behind but we managed to stay in front and, after 14 days and 1400 miles, we finished at Orakei Wharf one minute and 39 seconds apart. We made a perfect landfall.
"We had decided to stick to the rhumb line. A navigator’s role in those days was making sure whoever was on the helm steered the compass course. There’s always a temptation to sail a bit higher because it feels faster or lower because you might catch a wave. But for a navigator in those days a major part of it was dead reckoning. The navigator needs to be sleeping with one eye on their compass downstairs to make sure everyone is on point."
John and Heather were certainly that during the 1987 Melbourne to Osaka two-handed race.
Over the 5377 nautical mile race, the pair established a healthy lead over the rest of the fleet in the cruising division, finishing four days ahead of their nearest rivals. They then made their way home via the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, British Columbia, California, Mexico, Marquesa Islands, Tahiti, Rarotonga and Tonga.
That journey amounted to about 15,000 nautical miles and Kevin estimates his parents did well in excess of 100,000 nautical miles together. He remembers that most weekends when he was a youngster involved meeting at Orakei on a Friday evening and then competing in anything up to 350 nautical miles. And if they weren't racing, they were cruising.
Heather and John Lidgard with the Reward Cup in 2019.
Heather Lidgard taught many others to navigate, including John and Kevin, using sextants, charts, chronometers, dividers, the sun and stars, and embraced new technology when it emerged.
"She thought it was heaven," Kevin said. "Mum’s last trip was in 2010 to Sydney when she was 78. We had all the electronic toys you can imagine and she loved that and knew how to use them all to our best advantage. That was probably part of the reason she made it her last trip. We had gone from a sextant to virtual, visual toys."
The Lidgards are well known in the New Zealand sailing scene, and books were written about both Heather (The Heather Lidgard Story) and John (It's in the Blood).
They both document their shared and separate experiences but it's unquestioned that Heather was a trailblazer, breaking new ground for women in sailing. She always knew where she wanted to go, and usually got there.
