How I Caught Sailing Fever in Plymoth- Copyright Peter Marsh
I was 16 when I read about the second Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (OSTAR) starting in Plymouth, England on 23 May. I knew I had to go, which caused my mother distress because I was doing something completely out of character: skipping my grammar-school education for three days to hitch-hike 230 miles to Devon.
It was an unforgettable experience where I briefly met two entrants: I was the sole spectator of a TV interview with Francis Chichester across the bay at Mashford’s boatyard in Cremyll; I accosted Derek Kelsall as he came ashore and was able to run some errands for him the day before the race began, finding a chandlery in the old town that had the items he wanted.
Derek Kelsall’s 35′ trimaran was the fastest boat in the OSTAR, but had to return to Plymouth to repair a broken rudder.
On start day I watched from Plymouth Hoe as Frenchman Eric Tabarly led the fleet out into the Channel. (His victory 27 days later would jump-start the whole french nation into an affair with sailing that continues to this day!) Back in the classroom the next week, I had no idea that the OSTAR had set in motion a smaller series of events that would inexorably change my life for ever–and gave me a head start in writing about ocean racing and record breaking in 1990.
Remember, I hitchhiked back in 1 1/2 days and was back in school on Monday. Now I was really out of touch with the latest news in the classroom! I remember there was a buzz of excitement a few weeks later when the Beatles released A Hard Day’s Night–the first album written by Lennon and McCartney. It was the first time an English group had broken free of America’s grip on rock and roll, and inspired the great English pop music revival.