In 1971 a young Lane Cove sailor Rick Shortridge built a new Gwen 12 in an effort to win the Gwen 12 Nationals which were to be held in Perth. The delightfully named Seaweed was put in the water a bare 6 weeks before the Nationals. Having raced to complete the boat, Rick was dismayed to find that the NSW measurer would not register the boat due to a dispute over one measurement point close to the bow. In a measurement scandal not unlike that suffered by Australia II in 1983 or the What Next 12 foot skiff crisis of 2004, Rick was excluded from the NSW team for the Nationals.

Undeterred, Rick rang a friend in Canberra and arranged for Seaweed to represent the ACT. The team then confidently set off for Perth. Arriving in the west their measurement problems were not over. Before the first race Rick had to attack the deck of his brand new boat with a saw, cutting it from bow to bulkhead. He then hammered in a wedge to widen the deck beam and covered the gap with an ash wedge to match the other inlay work on the hull. To this day he is thankful that the centre-case bolt held the rest of the boat together while they inserted and glued the wedge.

With these minor adjustments completed, Rick sailed the best Gwen series of his life to win the Nationals against a strong fleet from across the country.