Fremantle legend John Longley is living proof that with a little passion and determination, anything can, and will, happen.
YOU would be hard pressed to find an individual who has been more influential in putting Fremantle on the international map.
While crowds of well-wishers no longer mob him in the pubs as they did in the late 1980s, the legend of John Longley nevertheless remains entrenched in Fremantle’s modern history.
When people recognise Mr Longley in the street, they invariably tell him they remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news that the yacht Australia II had won the America’s Cup.
But it’s not just the 1983 America’s Cup victory and subsequent defence in 1987 that put Fremantle on the map of which Mr Longley can be proud – his list of accomplishments runs much longer than South Terrace.
Firstly, Mr Longley wasn’t involved in just the cup win and defence; he sailed as a crewmember of five consecutive campaigns from 1974 to 1987.
His contribution to sailing is significant. In 1984, Mr Longley received an Order of Australia for his services to yachting, in 1994 he was awarded the Ron Tough Gold Medal for services to WA sailing and was also nominated Fremantle’s citizen of the year that same year.
In 2000, Mr Longley was awarded the Australian sports medal, in 2004 he was inducted into the Fremantle Sporting Wall of Fame and in 2008 the America’s Cup Hall of Fame.
A teacher by trade, Mr Longley put the chalk down for the last time in 1980, when he left school to take up the full-time role of project manager for the 1983 cup challenge.
He was then elevated to the position of general manager for the cup defence in 1987.
Mr Longley says the America’s Cup defence in 1987 not only placed Fremantle firmly into the international spotlight, it provided the capital and the impetus to ensure that heritage buildings in Fremantle’s west end were retained.
“There had been a battle raging since the late 1960s-early 1970s to save Fremantle’s heritage, particularly in the west end,” Mr Longley recalls.
“Basically that fight had largely been won by the America’s Cup
“It showed not only internationally and nationally that Fremantle is a very interesting place, but it also showed it to the rest of Western Australia and the metropolitan area that Fremantle’s a great place to come visit.
“I think that it made a huge impact and a lasting impact, we often say that it started a party and the party’s never stopped.
“If you come down to Fremantle on any given weekend, typically 30,000 to 40,000 people will come down here, it is the state’s most visited destination, and prior to the America’s Cup it was just a dirty port.”
Working as general manager on the America’s Cup gave Mr Longley the business experience to take on his next challenge, heading up the team building the $20 million Endeavour replica.
“When the Endeavour project came up it was very good to have that background because that was a $20 million project, and it was a fascinating task, because I, like everybody, didn’t know how to build an 18th century ship,” Mr Longley says.
But after three years the project’s funder, Bond Corporation, had slipped into strife and the company was ultimately wound up.
Mr Longley says the Endeavour project was one of the last Bond Corporation entities to be shut down, but with the ship unfinished, Mr Longley was left unsatisfied.
“I had spent three years on the ship and I’m sort of a slightly stubborn guy and I didn’t want to have wasted three years of my life, so I said to my wife ‘I’d like to have a go at trying to keep this thing going’,” he says.
Ultimately, Mr Longley was successful, and the Endeavour was launched in December 1993.
After his time with the Endeavour, Mr Longley served as chief executive of the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce from 1999 to 2008.
Mr Longley is now heading up the organising committee for the ISAF World Sailing Championships, to be held in Fremantle in December 2011 (see page 5).
“I’ve been enormously lucky as a sailor to have competed in the America’s Cup, and to have won it is an extraordinary thing,” he says.
“The Endeavour was just something that came up out of left field, and I’m enormously proud of what we did with that ship and that it continues to be a wonderful legacy.
“I loved having an impact; I do think I’ve made a difference, a personal impact in Fremantle, both in my chamber of commerce work and bringing the ISAF world championships here.”
Despite his long list of achievements, and a huge bank of fond memories, the modest Mr Longley says he has simply been driven by the pursuit of fun.
“That sounds frivolous and silly to many people, but it has certainly been the driving force in my life,” he says.
“Early in my working life I said to myself, ‘when I come to a fork in the road I’m always going to take the more interesting one.’
“It’s never been about wealth ... I have chosen to have that other form of wealth, which is life experience, and as far as life experience goes and having done things, I’m incredibly wealthy.”
How would you like to be remembered?
As someone who made a difference to my sport.
What’s your favourite thing about Fremantle?
The grit of the place. The fact that it is an edgy place in lots of different ways.
What is Fremantle missing?
Clearly it now needs to take on some change. The heritage in the west end is safe, nothing can damage that, but the east end is a disaster. I’m delighted that the current council led by Brad Pettit is addressing that and saying we’ve got to bring in more people to make it a sustainable city, and to do that you’ve got to bring in some height, and you can do that in the east end of Fremantle.
Three desert island items?
A small sailboat, because it would be incredibly frustrating to be on an island not being able to enjoy the water around you, that would be number one. Number two would be tomatoes, my favourite food, and number three, it would good to have my wife. Jen’s my great lifelong companion and my best friend and you’re very lucky if you have a marriage where your wife is your best friend.
Dinner with three famous people throughout history?
Ted Turner, I know him and he’s such a funny bugger. Paul Keating, he’s a fascinating man, I know that it would be a really interesting discussion, and Barack Obama. That would be an interesting dinner party.
Words to live by?
Life is a journey, not a destination. I know that sounds a bit cliched, but its something I took on a long time ago. I’m not trying to get somewhere, I’m trying to enjoy the trip.
