Authors Electric

The only UK entry in the 2023 OCR  It started just three weeks ago. I’d heard that Tracy Edwards’s iconic yacht Maiden was lying in St Katherine’s Dock in London and would be open to the public on Saturday afternoon. Then I heard that I could buy a ticket just a couple of days earlier and attend an evening event to meet the crew. This had the great merit of offering pleasure and research… would Tracy Edwards herself be there? ‘Marketing’ isn’t keen on Lionesses of the Sea as the title for my forthcoming book about c20th women sailors and I can’t be bothered to argue the point just now. But Tracy would make a great lioness.  She was certainly there. She opened the gate to let us all troop in. An erect, petite figure in an anorak. Not playing the celebrity hostess; the gate needed opening. She opened it. Suddenly there, next to  Maiden , able to touch her, potentially go on board, I felt overcome with emotion. This yacht, which had raced around the world with the first...

  When Nicolette Milnes Walker (28) arrived in Newport Rhode Island on July 26, 1971, she was greeted with foghorns, a nautical escort, flashing lights. There was even a clap of thunder! The Mayor came out in his motorboat to meet her and offered her the Freedom of the City; her parents were waiting, the Navy was there – and so was the Press. As she stepped onto the pontoon in her freshly-donned mini-dress, there were cameras and a microphone as well as hugs and greetings. ‘I was surrounded by friendly and enthusiastic people, all asking questions. I replied as best I could, which was not very well (under the circumstances) for I was too excited to think clearly. […] Newport Daily News 27.7.71 Nicolette had just sailed across the Atlantic from Milford Haven, alone and without stopping in her 30’ sloop, Aziz . This was a female first, as she had planned it to be. When asked why, she said it was ‘for fun’. The celebrations were fun as well. ‘That evening I was feeling so fit and ha...

  Photo to accompany Lionesses' letter to the  candidates for PM, asking for better opportunities   for girls football The football Lionesses who caught our hearts as well as winning the European Cup were clear that they were a fortunate generation, building on the stubbornness of those who’d gone before. Interviewees referred to the players of the c20th who’d given their own money and time, as well as their hearts and skills, to the game they loved.  Not everyone was prepared to gloss over past rejections. The clubs who’d refused to host their games because ‘no one’s interested in women’s football,’ weren’t going to be forgiven and forgotten, as the team packed Wembley Stadium with a record 87,192 attendance and won the first major competition for England since 1966. Former player turned presenter, Alex Scott, said, ‘Let’s just remind ourselves as well, back in 2018, we were begging people to host in their stadiums a women’s game for this Euros. So many people ...

Heading from Yachting Monthly 'RNVR Journal' 1940-45 Since the publication of Uncommon Courage: the Yachtsmen Volunteers of WW2 I’ve become more and more aware how little I know. I worked hard to research the book and can confidently say that I left out much more than I put in. That’s not hard when you’re researching from memoirs, lists, websites and histories. The source material fills several shelves; the book itself is a single volume. Even my bibliography had to be rigorously selective – only including the books I’d used directly in the finished product, not everything else I’d read along the way.  As it was, I got into trouble with the publishers for going over the contracted word count. I hadn’t fully realised how tightly managed their budgets must be and the extent to which rapidly rising paper costs could threaten the viability of a project. I felt rather sorry and amateur when I delivered 15k excess words – but I still fought like a pitbull for my Right to an Index....

PD annual return to the river. (these photos from 2016) I was standing on the river wall in Woodbridge, watching at a little distance while Geoff, Steve and Tim from the boatyard concentrated on their annual task of lifting Peter Duck back into the river. There’d been a bitter northerly the day before, driving rain and gusts predicted to reach 40mph. We’d all been relieved to Abort Mission. They said they were worried about my boat: I said I was bothered about their backs. Probably the truth was that none of us fancied getting soaked and frozen that Monday morning. Suddenly a day spent catching up on office chores had seemed an attractive option. Today the weather was bright but chilly, the breeze stiff-ish, threatening to buffet PD 's precious hull sideways as Geoff and Tim hung onto the warps and turned her precisely while Steve drove the crane. In calm conditions only one person is required, guiding both of the warps – on those days I almost feel  I’d have a go mysel...

Grand-daughter Hetty writes up her log on PD I have a new dream job. Yachting Monthly , a magazine I’ve known all my life, has asked me to contribute monthly book reviews. They’re very short, more like notices really but the reading is so good for the brain – or did I mean soul? This summer I’ve managed no more than a few snatched hours on the water -- Peter Duck has only left the Deben once (that’s not counting the time darling-son Bertie ran her on the bar on the EBB … my blood chills as I think of it…)  and, while she pretends she’s been reasonably contented on mother-ship duties, it’s not the same as setting out to sea. I’m promising her (as ever) that next season will be different (last year I wrote a pledge to that effect which I left in her cabin through the winter) but, until then, I’ve a stash of YM books and am going to make the most of vicarious adventure.  I'll read on board. Arthur Ransome used  Racundra  as his floating office to extend his...