A VERY SPECIAL SPORTSMAN

Duke Gillies was a sports fanatic in the 1920s. He didn't just follow all sports, he took part in 
them.

He rode, rowed, was a foundation member of the Otago Ski Club, held Otago swimming 
titles, played soccer for Northern, rugby for Alhambra and cricket for North East Valley. It 
all changed in 1932.

"I got kicked on the back of the knee in soccer and that shattered all the nerves in my leg so I 
had to get out of all sports," he explains, "But I stayed with surf life-saving at St Clair."

Mr Gillies figured that there had to be a better way of rescuing swimmers than having a life-
saver swim out into the waves with a belt. He decided to design a surf canoe.

His first boat resembled an Indian canoe. When he took it down to St Clair Beach a lot of old 
surfers looked at it sceptically. They didn't rate its chances of riding the waves. Undeterred, 
Duke Gillies launched the boat. It rode two waves before being swamped.

He went back to the drawing board. His next design was more successful. The boat was 
named Avalon after a 14 foot Auckland yacht which had won the Sanders Cup at a regatta in 
Dunedin.

Four of his mates helped to build the canoe. "We used to put in two and six - 25 cents - a 
week to pay for timber and canvas," Mr Gillies chuckles.

The boat was just about ready for launching when the group decided to give it one last coat of 
varnish. They took it down to the beach and turned it upside down. As they were applying the 
varnish, their attention was drawn to a woman who was in trouble in the sea.

The boat was promptly turned up the right way and launched, wet varnish and all. The group 
quickly rescued the woman - a non-swimmer - who was drifting on an air mattress about 400 
metres from shore.

The Avalon proved to be a very sturdy and effective canoe. Mr Gillies recalls that he and his 
mates decided to take it to Purakanui over Easter 1934.

"We left from the Otago Rowing Club at the top of the harbour on Good Friday and went out 
through the Heads and about six miles up the coast to Purakanui.

"There was a carnival there and we'd taken our gear up to a crib at Purakanui beforehand. At 
the last moment one of the men couldn't make the trip so another man came instead. There 
was not much room in the Avalon and this fellow turned up with big boots and a heavy 
haversack full of gear. I can tell you, the air was blue!" he laughs.

However, despite the extra load the Avalon made it safely to Purakanui and the crew excelled 
themselves at the carnival. "Only one boat beat us although we had a 10 metre handicap," Mr 
Gillies says proudly.

The group returned to Dunedin on Easter Monday unaware of the big seas around the 
harbour. In 1934, there wasn't the emphasis on water safety that there is today. The four men 
were clad in football jerseys and were good swimmers but there wasn't a lifejacket in sight.

No other boats - either big or small - were willing to risk going through the Heads into the 
harbour that day but somehow the Avalon and its crew made it safely back to shore.

Over the years Mr Gillies built surf canoes in different sizes until he discovered the best were 
18 footers which were introduced as standard rescue canoes around the country. Powered 
craft are now used for rescues but Mr Gillies is proud that more than 100 rescues were made 
in the surf canoes which he designed.

However, his best rescue was not on the water but up a mountain.

A group from the Otago Ski Club was skiing on the Rock and Pillar range in Central Otago 
one Friday night. It was almost dark by the time they reached the top and started skiing 
down.

"You could only ski a few yards because there were rocks down below," Mr Gillies explains. 
"l'd just stopped and taken my skis off when a man behind me came down too fast. His two 
skis got caught under a rock and he broke both his legs.

"We didn't have a stretcher so we improvised with skis, toe straps and poles and eight of us 
carried him down the mountain to a hut at the bottom where an ambulance was waiting.

"We left the top of the mountain in the dark and it took three hours to carry the man down. I 
don't think he would have survived if we'd waited for a stretcher to be taken up."

But survive he did. Twenty years ago, the man and Duke Gillies met again and the rescue 
was uppermost in their conversation. They discovered that four of the rescuers were still alive 
and decided to get together to discuss the incident over dinner.

Mr Gillies is a man who likes to make things happen. That doesn't necessarily mean 
achieving goals on the water, the mountains or the playing fields. He's also done his share of 
planning and administration.

He was instrumental in getting surf clubs started at Oreti, Kaka Point, Brighton and 
Warrington, drew plans for club-houses and helped build them. He was also on the 
committee that got Moana Pool built, spent 10 years chairing the trust that runs the St Clair 
Hot Saltwater Pool and ] 2 years chairing the Therapeutic Pool Committee.

Duke Gillies is bright eyed, energetic and looks considerably younger than his years. He is 
articulate and has an excellent memory. And he's still actively involved in sport.

He was a competitor in the 1998 Masters Games in Dunedin, winning gold medals in the l00 
metres freestyle and 1000 metres rowing. He's thinking of giving rowing a miss when the 
games are next held in Dunedin in 2000. After all, he'll be 93 by then.

Although his rescue days are over, Mr Gillies continues to enjoy the camaraderie of surf life-
savers. He's still a timekeeper for major surf carnivals and was guest speaker at a function 
when the National Surf Life-Saving Championships were held in Gisborne earlier this year.

He enjoys the company of younger people and wants to see them develop to their potential. A 
life-member of the Royal Life-Saving Society, he would like to see a Life-Saving Award 
introduced into the School Certificate curriculum.

"It would be a Live and Learn Award where a young person would have to swim 50 yards, 
tow a person 25 yards and do artificial respiration," he explains. "Young people sitting 
School Cert would be about the right age for learning these skills."

On Wednesday nights Mr Gillies goes to the Therapeutic Pool to coach Special Olympians. 
It’s a task which gives him a great deal of satisfaction.

"They're great triers. I always feel there shouldn't be a first, second and third in their events 
because they all deserve medals," he remarks.

Duke Gillies has no thoughts of stepping to the sidelines or becoming a couch potato in front 
of his television set. He's too busy with his sport and sharing his love of physical pursuits 
with younger people.

Anyway, he's only 91!


This item from the Otago Age Concern Publication  Memories are Made of This
is used with permission

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