13 February 1945 – 20 October 2022
It is a matter of fact that no individual has served the Oxford University Yacht Club for longer than Anthony Lunch. His 40 years as a Flag Officer are unprecedented – only Martin Beale gets close at 31 years. It might be considered a matter of opinion that no one has served the Club with more dedication and enthusiasm, but that opinion is likely to be shared by anyone who has been a member since 1979 – the year Anthony became Commodore.
Anthony Lunch was born on 13th February 1945. He learnt to sail at Chipstead Sailing Club at the age of 10, moving on to that hotbed of sailing talent, Sevenoaks School. Of this time, Anthony said: ‘Before long I was a very junior member of the Sevenoaks team and from then on my abilities improved and my love of team racing was fuelled by exciting fixtures and senior boys’ expert tuition. All this culminated in the Public Schools Championships in 1961, when (with Barry Stacey) we came second, and then the following year, when we were lucky enough to win, and bring home a new Firefly to join the school fleet. In all my years of racing, this remains one of the highlights!’
After Sevenoaks Anthony spent 12 months doing Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), as a teacher in The Gambia. This experience was to have a big influence in his later life.
Then came the move to Oxford University to read Geography at Mansfield College. There he quickly became involved in the Yacht Club, sailing in the Varsity Match in all of his three years – winning all of them, the final one as Captain and Vice Commodore (the senior student post). In 1967, he put in an application for Full Blue status. This resulted in two members of the Varsity Match team being awarded Full Blues for the first time, with the remainder still getting Half Blues.
It was at Oxford Anthony came across the Imperial Poona Yacht Club for the first time, competing in the ‘Backwards Races’ between the two Clubs at Port Meadow. The report from the 1965 event describes him as ‘porpoising about amidst the cackle of geese.’ He obviously enjoyed this and was to come back for more!
In his final year he also represented the British Universities in their tour of the United States – where he was able to meet up again with Harry Anderson (the most significant contributor to American sailing) who he first met at the Backwards Races and with whom he remained in contact for many years.
A final, and most significant, result from his time at Oxford was that it was there that he met Martine. They are reported to have made a dashing couple and their long-lasting union was a constant in the rest of his life.
After obtaining what he always described as a ‘sporting third’, Anthony joined Unilever as a graduate trainee, working in many different countries, with his language skills being both invaluable and improved. He then became Managing Director of Phildar UK before his entrepreneurial drive led him to start a number of different businesses as well as volunteering and charitable organisations.
He renewed his links with VSO as a Council Member from 1983 to 1990. In 1990 he founded the Sermathang Project in Nepal after he and Martine visited the remote community where their son, Nick, was a volunteer teacher. This helped educate many hundreds of children in communities in the Helambu area, with a new school being built in 1995.
In 2000, Anthony founded MondoChallenge in order to widen the scope of the projects. MondoChallenge sending volunteers to Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania, Kenya, The Gambia, Chile and Ecuador. Anthony said: “My vision has always been ‘People first, money second.’ We are NOT a funding organisation, but I know from experience that the small amounts we do provide go much further than many international aid programmes! Although much of the volunteer contribution must inevitably go to covering our running costs, the MondoChallenge Foundation, our sister charity, fundraises and supports our development projects financially in the countries where our volunteers are working. This funding, together with the work of volunteers, has already had a huge impact on many schools, orphanages, and small businesses and ultimately the lives of many thousands of people that Mondo has been lucky enough to work with. This is how I planned it, and this is how I intend it will continue.”
All his business and volunteering work took Anthony away from sailing, although he kept his hand in with a vintage International 14 at Upper Thames Sailing Club when they lived in Bray and a Flying Fifteen at Northampton when they moved there. He also got back to the Oxford University Yacht Club, being elected Commodore (an alumnus post) in 1979.
His enthusiasm and creativity in this role encouraged the undergraduates to strive for great things and it is no coincidence that the Club became its most active in these initial years. As Commodore he attended many events, including Varsity Matches. In Beaumaris in 1979 he invented a new drink (cocktail would be too kind a word – it was known as the stomach pump!) which was served up for a number of years at the match.
Anthony also revived the Poona match and was soon elected a member of this exclusive club of which he was an enthusiastic and active participant.
He stepped down as Commodore in 1985 and became a Vice President, but his active involvement didn’t cease. In 1990, the enterprising undergraduates organised a World Tour, competing in India, Hong Kong, Japan and USA. Anthony jumped at the chance and joined them for some of the tour and, notably, the visit to Japan and Doshisha University. The exchange with Doshisha continues to this day and while Jean-Philippe Snelling has always been the main driver, Anthony’s involvement has always been appreciated by Doshisha University and their alumni.
After 16 years as a Vice President, Anthony was elevated to President in 2001 – a post he held until 2018. It was also around this time that Anthony became a more regular sailor, buying a Swallow with Andrew Reid and racing it at Itchenor for 25 years. In typical Anthony style, he was soon involving young people in Swallow racing, including students from the OUYC. He was also a past chair of the National Swallow Class.
When Anthony stepped down as President in 2018, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the RYA and thoroughly enjoyed being presented with it by Princess Anne.
Anthony’s death has deprived the OUYC of its most loyal supporter, but our thoughts are with Martine, his children, Chris, Nick and Cecilia and their families who have lost a loving husband, father and grandfather.
While Anthony was a long-time friend of the Oxford University Yacht Club and a major supporter of the Life Members’ Boat Fund that provides significant funding for the Club, it is rightly his family’s wish that anyone wishing to make a donation in his memory does so to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/anthonylunchlegacy
A Memorial Service for Anthony will be held at Chichester Cathedral at 3pm on Friday 10th February and afterwards at Itchenor Sailing Club. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to his son Nick: nlunch@insightshare.org
Anthony Lunch:
OUYC Vice Commodore 1965-1966
OUYC Commodore 1979-1985
OUYC Vice President 1985-2001
OUYC President 2001-2018