Jazz Player was the name given to the boat by New Zealand based original owners Philip & Kim Bratton who first commissioned her back in 2004 when she was based out of Wellington.
The Bakewell-White Z39 was the result of a design competition run by Yachting New Zealand to come up with the next one-design cruiser/racer. Upon winning this design competition, the first Z39 (Jazz Player) was built by Hakes Marine. Andrew Lawrence purchased the yacht in 2006 bringing her Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron for many years but recently she resides at Sandringham Yacht Club.
In May of 2015 the team started a full refit of Jazz player, basically stripping her down to her bare bones and rebuilding everything from scratch, all in preparation for the Melbourne to Osaka 2018. There’s been many changes including a new lighter deeper keel fin, independent twin wheel steering system, a whole new interior/internal structure and a simplified electronics package. The sail package has also been changed, with the inclusion of a square top main and changing to hanks on the jib for easy handling two-handed.
Jazz Player has been campaigned quite heavily out of Melbourne over the years, competing in races and regattas such as Melbourne to King Island, Melbourne to Stanley, Hamilton Island Race Week, Geelong Week, Melbourne to Hobart (Line Honours and 1st IRC in 2009), Melbourne to Vanuatu and 5 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Races.
Jazz Player Racing Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JazzPlayerRacing/
Video Clips