Where do I start, sailing Swan cup, Bounder sailing, Jim the lodger , the regular phone calls talking about llamas and “special human beings”
Probably the funniest regatta I have ever done was with Jim on a Swan 57 in Sardinia. I was working for Hood sails and was asked to find some people to sail. The Whitbread 89-90 had just finished and so we ended up with Jim, Ross Halcrow, Peter Warren and Claire there were a few others but my memory is not what it was.
First job arrive early and need somewhere to stay, so Jim found Russell Pickthall had a big pad and nobody had arrived yet so we stayed there for a few days. Next the sails…..IRC racing then had dacron sails and ours were not great. Jim and Rossco took on the mission and leach tapes were off and free handing of leach hollow took place. The space in the shed was officially a North loft so they charged a fortune for the space and use of the machines, so next job- get bill paid. Jim found Tim Woodhouse who owned Hoods and we all ended up drinking with him and accumulating a massive bar bill and the agreement Tim would cover the sail bill as it was “warranty” and got him to pay the bar bill.
We won the regatta though the Brazilian owner didn’t see any of the racing as he would turn up with a different young lady every day and go into his cabin only appearing on the way in……
Jabbas story about Jim and the Aga Khan happened during this regatta, but the party deteriorated with people hurling themselves out of the second floor of the tennis club into the pool and eventually the Carabiner turned up with sub machine guns and started firing them in the air.
Jim stayed with me at 55 Satchell Lane in Hamble and David Duff was there for a while. We did some “renovations” as it was an unmodernised house built in 1903. We took out a wall which separated the lounge and dining room with a mattress on the floor to knock the bricks onto.
Another moment was my bedroom door being flung open and Jim there with 2 blondes saying ” Its 2 am, middle of winter its Hamble and they are Swedish” he then disappeared for a few days- it was always special living with Jim!
Mike Richards
Mike is a great friend and is currently Racing/Performance measurer for IRC in the UK. He has a world of sailing experience and technical knowledge.
