Vale | Ken Maughan OAM

Ken with his OAM

Ken was involved in rowing and with Grafton Rowing Club for 65 of his 89 years, giving so much of his time freely to row, coach, mentor, rig and repair boats, and led the club as Captain.

An invitation in the early 1960s from then Grafton Rowing Club Captain, Darrell Amos, saw Ken first try rowing as a sport, and he was immediately hooked. Initially rowing in Gladstone skiffs, butcher boats and fours, Ken proved to be a quick learner and a strong competitor.

After a few years with the club, Ken, like many other rowing club members at that time, also joined the South Grafton Volunteer Water Brigade, rowing in flood boats, competing in flood boat races and participating in flood rescue work. His involvement with the Water Brigade continued right up until the SES replaced the Water Brigade around the turn of the century.

Each Saturday during summer, Ken would compete in handicap skiff racing and then in the popular pointscore flood boat flutters, where crews would be determined each Saturday by a draw from the hat, to allow variety.

Ken also developed a keen interest in racing in single sculls and looked to buy himself a boat. He knew of the whereabouts of a cedar single that Max Fisher had built as his training boat for his race against Evans Paddon for the World Professional Sculling Championship in 1948, and, in typical Ken fashion, he set about buying the boat, persisting until the owner agreed to sell it to him. That boat is still around today, after being rowed by Ken almost every day for about three decades, only being put aside temporarily to have some rot cut out, and for a while when Ken bought a newer George Towns boat.

Ken’s training back then consisted of a very quick row around Susan Island before an early start to work each weekday morning, with a 20 km row to Koolkhan and back on Sundays with fellow sculler Bruce Allen. The return leg of the trip would be non-stop, pushing all the way.

L to R: Ken Maughan, Bruce Allen, and Darrell Amos

Ken met with great success in sculling races, including second places in Championship races to Australian greats Islay Lee, and in the Lightweight scull, Steve Roll. In later years, Ken competed in Masters events, as well as World Masters, including a trip to Canada.

Carpentry was Ken’s trade, following his apprenticeship with Bob Jack and Henry Thompson, both of whom taught Ken his trade but also developed the fine woodworking skills that Ken put to good use in the boatshed, repairing boats and oars and even rebuilding the sterns on two Towns boats. He later learned and developed skills with fibreglass and Kevlar as well, allowing him to do some repairs on composite boats. For over fifty years, Ken kept the Grafton Rowing Club boats and rowers on the water, as well as making repairs and improvements to the boatshed. He was Club Captain for many of those years and also maintained the rigging of the boats to give members better rowing experiences.

In the early years of his sculling, Ken would often row around near Carrs Creek Peninsula, hoping to come across the experienced scullers Eric and Percy See, who were always willing to help him with his sculling technique. Ken developed the same helpful attitude and eye for rowing technique that the Sees had, and further enhanced that through spending time with top level coaches, so that he became one of the best coaches around. Ken coached specific crews and scullers, but also basically anyone on the water – it was not unusual for rowers to unexpectedly hear Ken’s voice saying “What are you doing?” from beside them, either in his scull, on the bank, or in later years, in a tinny. Ken would then explain to them what they were doing and how they could do it better. Many school crews and scullers owe their success to Ken’s coaching, with some going on to state and national level.

As if all this was not enough, Ken was also a Boat Race Official for many decades, both locally and at state events. He was also the Northern Rivers Rowing Association official Handicapper for many years.

Ken survived a near-fatal workplace accident in 1976, only being saved by a quick lift with a workmate to Grafton Base Hospital and a surgeon immediately operating to save him. He was laid up for some time after but showed his usual determination during his recovery, getting back on his feet despite back pain and having to wear a brace for a time. One club member remembers a morning later in ’76 when he was helping Ken put new canvasses on the member’s scull – after they finished the bow canvas, he asked Ken how his back was, to which Ken replied “bloody sore”, so the member suggested they stop and do the stern another day, but Ken’s determined response was “no, we’ll finish today, that way my back will only hurt once rather than twice.”

 Outside of rowing, Ken also participated in other sports, playing Rugby League till he joined the rowing club, and later becoming a proficient golfer during the late 1970s. He was also a great dancer, attending many of the dances held in halls in Grafton and surrounding villages back in the day.

Also away from rowing, Ken followed a family tradition and joined the South Grafton Fire Brigade, like his father and grandfather. Ken served over fifty years with the brigade, attending many fires and emergencies, including the horrific Cowper Bus Crash in 1989 and the 1994 Bushfire Emergency. This long service meant that in the almost 100 years since the South Grafton Brigade was inaugurated, at least one member of the Maughan family was involved in the brigade.

 Ken received a number of awards over the years, including the NSW Premier’s Award for his work in the Bushfire Emergency; The Queen’s Award for service to the fire brigade and the community; and, in 2006, an OAM for “service to the community of Grafton, particularly through rowing and involvement with emergency services organisations”. He was also a life member of Grafton Rowing Club and of CHS Rowing.

We will miss Ken but with fond memories of his coaching, his anecdotes, his presence and his friendship, and, for many of us, rowing on the Clarence won’t be the same without hearing those words “What are you doing?”

Ken is survived by his wife Daphne, daughter Susan and son James.

Thanks to Rob Bruce, Grafton Rowing Club for the obituary