![]() ![]() “Before 1970, I would have expected that challenging yacht clubs would be able to place themselves completely in the hands of the New York Yacht Club and be assured of scrupulous fairness. ‘I want a yacht to sail around the world in.’” At the end of the year I dropped casually into a yacht broker’s in West London. I was tired of the routine of an automaton, in which I hoisted myself out of bed, dressed, went down to breakfast, got up from breakfast, and left the house to catch the bus every morning – and what for? Harassed by the constant ringing of the telephone and the never-ending din of the traffic outside, and finally frustrated by some committee or other. Like a caged bird that remembers better days I began to yearn for fresh air and freedom. Their Lordships, in their wisdom, had ordained that the last few years of my twenty-seven-year service in the Royal Navy should be spent at a desk, so when towards the end of 1952 I was faced with the prospect of retirement in the following summer my spirits revolted. “If there’s one sure way of driving a man to sea again, it is to shut him up in a London office after a lifetime afloat. Have a can of beer and try not to come unglued.”Ĭommander Victor Clark – On the Wind of a Dream (1960) Insinuate that everyone is trying to delude you, disqualify as many boats as possible and imply that all protesting skippers are lacking in sportsmanship. No one will furnish accurate data on what actually happened and all concerned will be in a highly emotional state. Deal with such cases severely and decisively, or you will find yourself having to render decisions on something you probably know nothing about. Occasionally, in the excitement of gentlemanly competition, one boat will foul another and a protest flag will be flown. Prime among these rules is that you have complete and unadulterated power. ![]() “While no previous knowledge is necessary (or even desirable for that matter), it will behove you, as a recipient of this signal honour, to memorise a few simple rules so that you may foul things up as capably as those who have been working at it for years. Cliff Hunt – Advice to a new Race Committee member (Yachting 1960) ![]()
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