Update...

We received this interesting account of Gareloch OD sailing in the sixties from Andrew M Stewart and we thank him for kindly allowing us to publish it for all to read.


Mr. Darley - Greetings from the Old year to the New

I am supposed to be (finally) writing a 4,000 word essay on the relationship between Churchill, Portal and Harris in respect of a Birmingham University MA in Air Power: History, Theory and Practice but a series of coincidences prompted me to drop you a few words first.

Due to the unfortunate acquisition by the Spanish of my Bank - the Royal Bank of Scotland - my account has had to be moved from Hemel Hempstead to Helensburgh and a windfall from HMRC by way of £61.80 required me to write to the RB enclosing said cheque. Whilst hunting on line for their address I found myself on your website and it reminded me of several glorious days spent ( I think in 1961) racing Gareloch One Designs and Dragons in the Public School Races representing my school - Rugby. I was sailing with John Grayburn, whose step-father, Sir Alistair Young, lived in Rhu, and who was married to the widow of John (Jack) Grayburn who won a posthumous Victoria Cross at Arnhem.

It was a memorable week not least because we managed to do quite well in one race which was then reported in the Daily Telegraph and subsequently read by our Headmaster who was none too pleased to find out that a maverick crew was unofficially representing the school. I also remember, probably incorrectly (!), the occasion when a very large naval warship was in the process of being towed through the Narrows to be broken up, just after the Start gun had fired. One crew - who will remain nameless - decided to steal a march on the rest of the fleet by slipping between the tug and the bow of the warship being towed thus gaining a winning advantage over everyone else. This escapade was not appreciated by either the Race Committee or by the Navy, both of whom communicated their displeasure to the crew responsible. However I remember Sir Alistair commenting to a chastened John and I on our way back home at the end of the day that if he had been in that position he also would have taken the same advantage - after all winning was the key!

Suffice to say I remember those days with a great amount of pleasure and have always felt that the members of your Club were exceedingly generous in allowing us to use your boats as well as ensuring that we all experienced Scottish hospitality at its best.. Your race report for Tuesday 14th June commenting on the sailing skills of a senior member of the Royal Navy reminded me of a similar incident in a North Sea Race where our navigator had gone down with some bug and we replaced him with a navigating officer from the Ark Royal who happened to be looking for a berth. It was a stormy run and our replacement navigator rapidly became unimpressed with the total lack of navigational kit and space on our boat. Our owner skipper, Ralph Dreschfield, was at one time the Attorney General in Uganda before independence and I vividly remember him advising our navy navigator in rumbustious language that if he continued to provide us with incorrect headings he would hang him with the spinnaker halyard as he had had plenty of experience of hangings in Uganda.

Best wishes to you and all Club Members for 2012 - and back to the grindstone for me.

Andrew M. Stewart

Fancy Owning a Gareloch Goddess?