Q: What brought you to the Flying Fifteen fleet?
A: Simple: Elizabeth and I were having a picnic lunch on Evening Hill, soon after I’d moved back to the area. It was a glorious Saturday in late June and we watched nine or ten Flying Fifteens having a really close race. I said to Elizabeth, “That’s what I want to do.”
Q: Tell me about your sailing history
A: Wow – long story. I grew up in the hilly tea-growing district of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), and when I was 11 my mother inherited some money and told the family that she was going to buy a sailing boat. So she bought a second-hand Heron and a book (David Ritchie: probably the Ladybird book of sailing), and we launched the boat on a remote lake (Bathalagoda) with the tiller in one hand, book in the other and gradually learnt the rudiments. Next we took the boat to Trincomalee, a stunning natural harbour on the east coast, and very soon we were all hooked. We moved back to England, and in 1971 my Dad gave my younger brother Nick and me £200 each to launch our sailing careers (and get us out of their hair). Initially we both bought OKs but in 1973 we bought Fireball K7140 and equipped her with secondhand rig, cover and trailer, total £430 (£30 over our budget!). We both enjoyed helming and crewing so we settled on swapping round every month. It took us a year to learn to sail the boat properly and save up for a new suit of sails, and by 1974 we were ready to compete, coming 3rd in the Europeans and 2nd in the Nationals two years running. But we were learning a harsh lesson: to win a championship we had to be consistent.
Nick and I decided to go on different paths. He went on to have great success crewing for Kim Slater. Meanwhile a fellow Lyme Regis sailor, Paul Withers, and I hatched a cunning plan. He would crew for me in the Fireball, aiming at the 1979 Worlds in Holland, while I would crew for him in his Tornado, aiming at Olympic selection in 1980. The first part went according to plan, amazingly, and we won. But the second part was less successful. We didn’t have enough time on the water, we struggled to get the best out of the boat, Russia invaded Afghanistan, the RYA (controversially) pulled sailing out of the 1980 Olympics, and the rest is consigned to the dustbin of history.
Q: What has been your best sailing experience to date?
A: It has to be winning that world championship. I’m also very privileged to have been the helm of Solent Oyster, the One Tonner that won Class III in the 1981 Fastnet, brilliantly navigated by Chris Fleming. But nothing beats the extended pleasure of racing in the Parkstone Fifteen fleet for over a decade. In 2014 Mike Riley introduced me to Steve Brown from Poole Yacht Club, and we’re about to begin our twelfth season. Thank you, Steve and thank you, Mike.
Q: What has been your worst sailing experience to date?
A: I’m tempted to say crewing that Tornado. It was the fastest production boat in the world at that time but, from my perch on the wire, it was wet, cold and boring!
Q: What is the best boat you have sailed?
A: I think the people are more important than the boat, so the best boats for me are those where I’ve had the happiest times. The Fireball was great in the 70s - high performance racing in big fleets in boats you could build yourself and a great social life. There were 150+ boats in the Nationals, 60+ boats from 20 different countries in the Worlds. In the early 80s I moved to helming keelboats: there are few better experiences than being a member of a crew of ten or more where you all work for and trust each other.
Q: Upwind or downwind?
A: Both, but tactically upwind is much more interesting
Q: Light or strong winds?
A: Both, either…but I’m getting less good at the really windy stuff and don’t really enjoy anything under 6 knots
Q: Harbour or Bay?
A: It’s wonderful to have the harbour on our doorstep but I love sailing in waves, so Poole Harbour and Lyme Regis, please
Q: Your favourite drink?
A: After a race, a pint. With a meal, a glass or two of red wine.
Q: What would your last meal be?
A: It would have to be a spicy Sri Lankan curry.
Q: Something about you that might surprise others
A: I stopped sailing for 25 years (1986 – 2010) to focus on family and career. When I retired I went a little crazy and bought four boats. Now I’m back to just the Flying Fifteen.
Q: What one record would you save from the waves?
A: Well, I’m not very musical but Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde - I could listen to that whining voice and those hypnotic lyrics for the rest of time.
Q: You’ve already got the bible, what other book would you choose?
A: I don’t want the bible, thank you! Complete Shakespeare, complete Chaucer, Arundhati Roy The God of Small Things, George Saunders Lincoln in the Bardo.
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