Hybrid NEX
Furling systems with
Ceramic Bearing Technology
Chosen by most of Maxi Trimarans over 80 feet
short-handed sailing
For solo or info:
marine@wichard.com profurl.com 32 SEAHORSE
endorsement to Martyr’s suggestions: for him the concept of an ocean race was both compelling and obvious. George was already a champion racer, winner of the One Ton Cup, RCC Challenge Cup (twice) and many other trophies. In boyhood he had been taught to sail by Brixham fishermen and, to the despair of his banking family, had worked for three years on the smacks, trawling the wild fishing grounds, summer and winter, way beyond Land’s End. Later, in WW1 he had instituted the Rescue Tug Service in the Western Approaches, personally salvaging ships in armed trawlers and tugs 400 miles out in the Atlantic; thus he knew first hand that converted working boats like his own newly restored Le Havre Pilot Cutter Jolie Brise could sail the Fastnet course safely, and that the powerful voices of critics from the British yachting establishment were igno- rant in declaring an ocean race to be unwise, unsafe… and even unsportsmanlike. George was, in the words of RORC historian Ian Dear, ‘undoubtedly one of the country’s most experienced deep-water yachtsmen with an ability to inspire and organise… at the height of his not incon- siderable intellectual and artistic powers’. He was indeed a giant of a man, both physically (6ft 7in) and in terms of drive and organisation. Along with his editor Malden Heckstall Smith, Philip Hunloke the King’s sailing master, Martyr, Alger- non Maudslay and others, he set about delivering the proposed new ocean race – but even among such an impressive bunch it was his determination that led the way. As joint secretary he was indefatigable in firing off letters and bending ears, but was equally adept at the vital technical plan- ning. Martyr himself wrote later, ‘But for the work done by Martin I do not think we would have had any race at all.’ George was aiming for far more than a race, fun as that would be. His self- appointed task was to put the new sport on a permanent footing by starting an Ocean Racing Club. Always a strong believer in the importance of yacht clubs –
at one point he had belonged to 16 accord- ing to the Lloyd’s Register – he realised a completely new organisation was needed. Typically he led from the front, putting his money where his mouth was: when an appeal for funds to provide a Challenge Trophy did not bear fruit he paid for the cup and associated prizes himself. The post-race dinner at the Royal Western Yacht Club, where he was a flag officer, was also funded from his own pocket. As both winner and host he made the official proposal for the establishment of the ‘ORC’ in his keynote speech and was elected its first commodore. It was the start of a new era in British yachting. A contemporary wrote of how George ‘shone out’ among his fellows. He was known for complete integrity, with an engineer’s grasp of nautical technicalities. As ORC commodore he aimed to establish the new club, and the sport of ocean racing, by building bridges both nationally and internationally. In 1926 he was awarded the Blue Water Medal for two transatlantic crossings in Jolie Brise; his letters home reveal that this was planned as an ambassadorial project, designed to link ocean racers in both countries. No one took up his challenge to race him back in time for the 1926 Fastnet, but contacts had been made for future contests. As Com- modore until 1934, and then Admiral until he died, his vision laid the foundations of everything the RORC stands for today. The most explicit evidence for George as founder comes from his contempo- raries. In Philip Hunloke’s biography the very moment of a rehearsal for the founda- tion of the Ocean Racing Club is recorded in an anecdote alive with George’s direct- ness and humour: it is set in a Mayfair office during 1925 where…
Algernon Maudslay… was listening to the forthright arguments of one Evelyn George Martin, that British sailormen should race their yachts offshore in blue water, as their fathers had done before them long ago, and as the Americans had successfully raced small yachts from New
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