something in mid-Atlantic, was badly holed and went down in under two minutes. Peter had to take to the life raft and luckily was rescued by a container ship six hours later.
A self-effacing and humorous man with the core of steel Peter has followed various careers which, along with his wife Alix and their two daughters, have allowed him to keep competing in the transatlantic races. He has been a yachting journalist, a crab fisherman, a charter skipper, a boatyard manager and latterly the host of Stoke Flem- ing’s Green Dragon pub. In these days of the yachting megastar it is refreshing to meet someone who is not only a consummate seaman but is also a true British eccentric who believes that it is the passage and not the winning that is important and that all should be done in as comfortable and civilised manner as possible. In one of the races, for ex- ample, Peter took part in the ‘Comfy Prize’ challenge in which certain entrants agreed to wear a jacket and tie at the start of the race, wear no oilskins during the passage, sleep between sheets each night and grow a plant during the voyage. Latterly he has become internationally famous for ensuring that he wears his slippers during the race as he downs his evening tot of whiskey.
In 2013 and in his eighth decade Peter will (“God and Alix willing!”) be taking part in his ninth transatlantic race, this time in ‘Aiokee’ his recently acquired Nicholson 32 a boat that he describes the sort of thing that a gentleman of his years should be campaigning.
Looking back on his seminal adventure with ‘Golden Vanity’ Peter says: “We were very lucky to have been able to get on the slip at Noss when we did. Indeed there was a fishing boat on there already but they managed to get us in behind. Mind you, we had to work damned hard to get her fixed because we couldn’t hold up the re-launch of the fishing boat. If it hadn’t have been for Noss I might well have lost the boat and my sailing days would have been over.”
So it is that Noss can claim a small but significant part in the early career of one of single handed sailing’s greatest characters and one of its greatest living legends.
Peter Crowther today
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