He sailed at Herne Bay in North Kent which had a host of top Albacore sailors and played an active part in creating and developing the National Albacore Association. He served not only as Chairman and RYA Rep. but also turned his hand to other things even down to making fittings and fixtures for our stand at the Dinghy Show. He was responsible too for getting our class magazine off the ground because he was editor of the very first edition and even came up with its name...."Alive". It is no wonder that he was granted our highest honour by becoming a Life Member of the Association.

He was a splendid race officer as anyone who attended the 1985 World Championships at Herne Bay will testify. Although he did not think of the idea he was instrumental in introduced Gate Starts to the dinghy world when in 1960 he was faced with a fleet of 200 Fireflies at their Nationals. He even created a cine film to demonstrate how it would be done. This film famously involved a moving sheet and "puffs" of cotton wool from the committee boat gun! Gate Starts soon became the norm and were a god send in the days when we too had big fleets as it got us started with minimum fuss.

We owe him a debt of gratitude and he should be long remembered.

Michael McNamara

(NAA Chairman)