Peter Dean makes maiden journey in famous bluewater classic to honour father John lost at sea

It was a voyage 20 years in the making in memory of the father he lost at sea in the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race, but son Peter Dean was finally able to honour his dad.

It was a voyage 20 years in the making in memory of the father he lost at sea in the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

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Sydney sailor Peter Dean honoured his father John, one of three men who died after the Winston Churchill sunk two decades ago, by competing in his first Sydney to Hobart this year.

Brothers Peter and Nathan Dean after the news that their father John is missing from the yacht Winston Churchill during 1998 Sydney-Hobart race.

Dean sailed aboard Winning Appliances, the 60-footer of childhood mate John “Herman” Winning, and during the race threw a wreath overboard in tribute to his father and others who were lost during the race in which six men died and 55 were rescued from their stricken boats or life rafts.

Peter Dean sailed aboard Winning Appliances, the 60-footer of childhood mate John “Herman” Winning.

“That was emotional. It was something I always wanted to do,’’ Dean said in Hobart. “I told the old man I would do one with him and that wasn’t meant to be.

“Then I got the chance to do one with my dad’s best mate Woody (John Winning Sr) and my best mate growing up, Herman (John Winning Jr).

The Winning Appliances crew, who were with Peter Dean when he threw a wreath overboard in tribute to his father and others who were lost during the 1998 race.

Dean, whose family was in Hobart to meet him at the end of the race, was glad to have finally contested the annual ocean race.

“It’s a bit of a monkey off my back,’’ he said. “I’m excited we did it. I can’t thank the boys enough for taking care of me.”

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