Life Under Sail

Ewen Southby-Tailyour's lifetime involvement with small boats, both civilian and military, began with his unusual christening and lasted until he sold his final vessel on his 80th Birthday. In between these two landmarks he sailed extensively but not through 'warm water' cruising grounds rather than in colder, seldom-visited climates; most notably the Falkland Islands and among the un-surveyed fjords of north-west Iceland and northern Norway in winter. His love of the sea was instilled in him when, just four, he was taken trawling under sail. Soon, he was crewing in the classic pilot-cutter Olga in which, over 30 years of family ownership, he sailed every Easter and summer holidays, all the while learning navigation, seamanship and ships' husbandry. At the Nautical College Pangbourne he passed 'O' Level in celestial navigation, seamanship and signals then, despite being captain of sailing, he turned down an Olympic trial in preference for deep water cruising and exploring. He navigated, inter alia, six Fastnet Races and skippered six two-handed Round Britain races as well as a single-handed round Majorca and a two-handed Iceland race.. During deployments abroad he took every opportunity to sail in and to understand local vessels such as Arabian dhows, Chinese junks, Kenyan out-riggers and square-riggers. In the Falkland Islands he found that the charts had not altered since the 19th Century so he surveyed the coasts and beaches in his own time, a work that became the basis for the amphibious planning in 1982. Clearly his sailing life has not been without drama: he fell overboard twice, once when alone. Bad weather is a function of seafaring and, in his case included being caught off an Icelandic lee shore in a Force 11: an episode of survival that merited a chapter in the seminal text book Heavy Weather Sailing. AUTHOR: Ewen Southby-Tailyour is a retired Royal Marines officer who played a leading role in the Falklands campaign. From an early age he was involved in offshore sailing and inshore exploring. His involvement with small boats and the sea continued in the service when he specialised as a Landing Craft Officer often operating with other NATO amphibious forces. In the early 1960s he was attached to France's maritime Special Forces before being seconded to the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces during the Dhofar War. In 1978 he commanded the Royal Marines' 'garrison' in the Falkland Islands when he was instructed to re-write the Standard Operating Procedures in case of an invasion. This study included the charting of much of the archipelago's coasts and beaches. Following his retirement in 1992 he was employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia. On his return he established an Amphibious Consultancy to help industry design the latest generation of the Royal Navy's amphibious fleet. Later he was elected Yachtsman of the Year, established the Jester Challenge, single-handed ocean races to the USA, the Azores and the Republic of Ireland for yacht under 30 feet in length and sworn as a Younger Brother of Trinity House.