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
OUYC’s annual varsity match against CUYC took place over 24/25th March 2018 as part of the Sunsail Racing Series Round 2 in the central Solent. Day one saw perfect conditions of 15 knots. Oxford commenced the competition with a textbook start in race 1, despite Cambridge protesting us for having our spinnaker pole out as we crossed the start line (which the RC confirmed we didn’t!). We rounded the windward mark in first place executing a perfect spinnaker hoist, and remained in first place for the rest of the race ending up with a well deserved bullet. Race 2 again was a good start however not quite as close to the pin as we hoped for, resulting in a fourth place at the windward mark. Fortunately this was converted to a third place as we crossed the finish line several marks later. After one more race, in which Oxford finished 7th, Oxford and Cambridge both headed to Cowes for the annual varsity dinner at the ‘Richard Branson Curry House’.
Day 2 saw lighter winds, however the Sunsail race committee still managed to run two excellent races despite the strong tides and rapidly decreasing winds. Race 4 resulted in an 8th (which we were happy to discard!). The final race of the 2018 varsity saw Oxford round the last windward mark in a strong third position, however with less than 100 m to go until the finish line the wind completely died and a strong easterly tide pushed Oxford over the finish line in fourth position. Giving them the varsity win having beaten Cambridge in every race over the weekend and coming fourth overall out of 19 teams.
Immediately after Varsity was the annual BUSA Yachting Championships. Day one saw the whole BUSA fleet heading out of Portsmouth and through the submarine barriers for a couple of practice starts followed by two windward/leeward races in very little breeze. Race two was raced in less than 7 knots! These did not suit us as we had trained in heavy weather all winter, resulting in a disappointing 21st and 16th place. The third race of day one was the short inshore race. The race started in a steady 10 knots from the south, we finally got back into the motions and were 8th to the windward mark. However, as we approached mark two (the main channel mark for all shipping leaving the solent) the wind completely died and a strong easterly tide pushed us back out of the solent. The wind finally filled in and the race was shortened to finish at Gilkicker point, with a disappointing 18th place.
Day two saw stronger, more stable winds. Race 3 of the championship was another windward/leeward in which we managed a much improved 5th place finish. The second race of the day was the long coastal race, which was a 21 mile tour of the central and eastern Solent, in very squally and wet conditions. At the halfway mark Oxford were in a comfortable top ten position however halfway into a 5 mile beat towards cowes our kicker strop broke, causing us to drop a few positions. A brilliantly nailed lay-line into Gurnard and some excellent spinnaker flying back towards Portsmouth ended up with Oxford finishing 10th in the double points race. With places to gain to reach the Championship fleet, we again headed out through the submarine nets into Langston Bay for three windward/leeward races on day three in shifty 10-12 knot conditions. Race 7 saw Oxford execute a textbook start reaching the windward mark in third place. Excellent spinnaker work and a beautiful bottom mark rounding ended up with Oxford rounding the last windward mark in second place. However, the only spinnaker wrap of the entire year occurred as we gybed onto the layline for the finish. Despite a rapid recovery we lost 2nd place and finished with a 13th, 9th and 14th on day 3.
Sadly, this was not quite enough for us to reach the Championship fleet, and so we went into the Trophy fleet on the last day in a strong position. The final day saw Oxford competing in windy and difficult conditions (gust of nearly 30 knots!). Race one was a coastal race which saw us reach the windward mark in 10th position, a successful spinnaker hoist and some excellent sailing along a very windy reach, saw Oxford sail through the fleet into third at the second mark. The world’s fastest spinnaker packer (León López-Brennan) packed the hefty Sunsail Spinnakers in record time enabling Oxford to re-hoist and finish the race in a comfortable third place. The final race of the competition was another coastal race. After a general recall, the race eventually got underway, and an excellent first beat with a perfect layline call saw Oxford reach the first windward mark in 1st place. We successfully hoisted and flew our spinnaker in 25-30 knots of wind, whilst our competitors struggled all the way down the run. A gybe in difficult conditions was successful executed (despite a minor broach) maintaining our lead. The last leg was a four mile fetch back to Portsmouth in gusty and difficult conditions. Despite this we held onto our lead and finished the week off with a well deserved bullet! This was enough for Oxford blue to win the Trophy Fleet.
Sean Lindsall, Captain of Yachting (2017/18)
The story of this trip to China started long before we arrived, and despite naturally haphazard and last minute organisation we were somehow just about on track. That was, until the morning of the flight, when Lucy awoke in London only to realise her British passport was on a yacht in Foye with her family. Chaos swiftly ensued as we desperately tried to rectify the situation, however, much to everyone’s disappointment, it was not possible. And so our team of five was reduced to four. Despite a minor visa saga at check-in, we made the plane and met up with our 4th member of our team, Marisha.
At the opening ceremony, it became clear to all the competitors (who had travelled from countries including Australia and Russia) that we were highly prized photo opportunities for the locals, as well as being very welcome guests of the Chinese government, who had put a phenomenal amount of money into the event and opening ceremony. Having been met with countless cameras, the ceremony kicked off with loud music, promo-videos and mesmerising dancers. If the ceremony itself wasn’t crazy enough, the entire city of buildings behind the stage had synchronised lights to create an inspiring skyline during performances. The evening concluded in a bar where we were introduced to the local beer (Tsingdao), which had the benefit of being both very palatable and having a low impact on the wallet. Meanwhile, a live band kept the teams energised for the evening while we met the many international university sailors.
Qingdao has another reputation aside from its cheap beer, and that is for its lack of wind. Despite many concerns, thankfully this failed to materialise during the event. We only saw one day of minimal wind but the race committee were very experienced in dealing with this situation and so managed to keep the racing going, on a day where it otherwise seemed bleak. The race course saw a rather stable wind direction on all days, with the largest benefits coming in the form of pressure differences. Splitting off from the pack was a risk, but one which also had the possibility of bringing boats back from the dead, even in the presence of a significant tidal gradient. This was especially true on the first two days of racing where a light breeze meant the sluggish boats responded very well to just a knot or two more over 45+ minute races.
Thankfully the new fleet of boats avoided creating more horror stories of breakages, as were rife in previous years. Unfortunately, their twin rudder and asymmetric spinnaker setup resulted in somewhat limited agility. Despite other teams’ complaints to the committee about the performance of the boats, we stayed positive, safe in the knowledge that all the teams were all in the same boat (excuse the pun). Marisha’s magic bag of medicine came into use on the penultimate day of racing in the form of sea sickness tablets due to a very large swell that had been whipped up by a modest breeze against a ripping tide.
After a tough first day racing, it was Beer Festival time! The evening began with a journey on the longest bridge in the world, before arriving, much to our delight, to free refills of beer and various performances during the evening. The hotel became a hub for post racing socialising between teams (partially due to the bar), and being close to the local metro station meant we were easily able to travel into the city during some downtime in order to make the most of the amazing opportunity to explore the area. We took a particular liking to a PG massage establishment which gave all four of us a chance to release tension in our muscles after wrestling the boat.
With Lucy stranded in the UK, the structure of the boat had to be reorganised. However, we did our best to manage the situation even though, on occasion (usually spinnaker related), that last pair of hands was sorely missed. The racing was challenging and a change from our team racing pedigree but this kept us on our toes throughout – my role as tactician saw me (James Scott) rediscovering some fleet racing. Sadly we just missed out on gold fleet though we were not too disheartened after a close fought initial two days. The final day sadly saw no racing due to a storm making the sea-state even more formidable than the previous day. This left us a respectable mid-fleet amongst 12 teams after 4 days of sailing.
Our helm’s birthday (Ali Bibby) coincided with the closing ceremony, and as we mentioned previously the hosts were incredibly generous, pushing out a final act of kindness in the form of two of the largest cakes we’d ever seen! To which Ali admitted that “even my own parents could not provide birthday love on that level.” We would like to thank the organisers of the event for their incredible hospitality and the smooth running of the event, hence making it an easy decision for Oxford to send a team in future years. The social aspect with international competitors and fun atmosphere made the event enjoyable for everyone involved (despite minor bouts of seasickness).
We are very much looking forward to returning to Qingdao with a new OUYC team this year, and hope to improve on last year’s result
James Scott
OUYC entered the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Round Britain and Ireland Race in August 2018.
RBI is an 1800 nautical mile quadrennial race around all outlying islands of Great Britain and Ireland. A crew of seven experienced sailors, all students or recent alumni of the University of Oxford, undertook this epic race in a 38-foot racing yacht.
On 12th August 2018, five current and former Oxford University Yacht Club sailors started the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race. The marathon 1800 nm race, in which yachts circumnavigate the entire UK without stopping, is one of the toughest challenges in ocean racing starting from Cowes on the Isle of Wight and sailing around Great Britain and Ireland including; Land’s End, the legendary Fastnet Rock, the Rugged West coast of Ireland, the Shetland Islands and the white cliffs of Dover. In thirteen days they covered 1988
nm, encountering gale force winds on Ireland’s rugged west coast, mountainous seas near the Hebrides, mythical islands in heavy fog and flat calms among North Sea oil rigs. OUYC is proud to be the first
university team to have completed the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race.
The team – Simon Harwood (skipper), Max Jamilly, Mélisande Besse, Annika Möslein, Will Gibbs and Sean Linsdall – arrived in Gosport on Friday 10th August to prepare for the race. We had already completed several qualifying races this season and Simon had been working tirelessly to bring the boat up to scratch. Max and Sean jumped off the dock at Haslar Marina to give Talisman a thorough clean below the waterline. Annika joined us from Germany and, once the whole team was reunited, we headed to Gunwharf Quays for a drink and some serious race preparation at Tiger Tiger.
Reluctantly we woke early the next morning and hurried to stow over 600 kg of food and water before crossing the Solent to Cowes. Soon disaster struck: the team satellite phone, our connection to the outside world, stopped working. A big shout out to Max and ‘sat phone’ Gary for spending hours getting it sorted! With Talisman safely berthed at Cowes Yacht Haven, the team headed to the RORC Clubhouse for a briefing and BBQ.
Sunday 12th August was the big day: time to set off on our adventure. Following a last breakfast at Tiffin’s, we spent a nervous few hours on the dock while rumours trickled in forecasting 50+ kt winds and 20m seas in the North Atlantic. We enlisted a questionable French photographer for one last team photo and said goodbye to the dock for two weeks.
The race started at 12:00 from the Royal Yacht Squadron line, the fleet of 28 yachts all heading east towards the No Man’s Land Fort, the first mark of the course. After rounding Bembridge Ledge, we did the first of many sail changes as the winds began to gather. The turbulent overfalls off St Catherine’s Point claimed our first sea sickness casualty – but
luckily Sean was fine after a few hours. As the wind shifted to the west we face a long, uncomfortable beat to Portland Bill. Méli and Max fell ill too: unfortunately, this lasted a few days, complete with prehistoric vomiting noises and a traumatising experience for an unlucky dolphin.
As we approached Land’s End, the wind dropped to a pleasant 15 kt with flat seas, a welcome relief from the uncomfortable conditions of the last few days. We rounded Bishop’s Rock off the Scilly Isles at midday on 14th August and began our long upwind journey north west through the Celtic Sea.
Overnight the winds built to a steady 28 kt with regular gusts of 35 kt. After a few night time sail changes we woke up flying a double reefed mainsail and storm jib. Just over 24 hours after leaving the Scilly Isles we passed the legendary Fastnet Rock and the jagged western outcrops of Ireland (Bull Rock and Great Skelling). Shrouded in clouds, they only briefly emerged from the fog. But our sights were firmly fixed north: towards the Hebrides and the gathering storms.
Clearing the last outcrops of the Irish coast, we turned north for the 360 nm journey to St Kilda – the last waypoint before Muckle Flugga, a lonely rock in the Shetlands that marks the most northerly point of our course. Each day we received a satellite weather forecast courtesy of Meteorologist Paul (Will’s dad, who kindly read us the shipping forecast). This time the news was extreme: we were on track to cross the tail-end of a tropical storm in the next twenty-four hours. Gale force westerlies and high seas were a certainty. We held a crew briefing: being 100+ miles away from the nearest safe harbour, our options were limited so we decided to ride out the storm but be very conservative with our sail choices to minimise the risk.
Approaching St Kilda on the evening of 17th August, the wind was 35 kt and building. We dropped the mainsail, hoisted the trysail and storm jib and braced ourselves for a very rough night. As the waves rose around us, we had a tray of Jane’s legendary brownies to celebrate Annika’s 22nd birthday. What better way to party than during a storm in the North Atlantic!
Sunrise on 18th August was hidden behind ominous clouds and the wind continued to worsen, as did the fearsome sea state. We measured a maximum gust of 45 kt before the wind instruments died, but bigger gusts continued to blow. Combined with monster waves which towered above Talisman, conditions were perfect for some amazing downwind sailing. All six crew members took the helm to surf at boat speeds over 18 kt. Simon reached 21 kt, a staggering speed with storm sails alone.
After the winds had died down to a moderate 25 kt, it was time to hoist the sails again and get back into the racing mindset. Talisman had other ideas, however: upon hoisting the mainsail we noticed that the top batten pocket had ripped. Méli led a great team effort involving sail patches and Gorilla tape to repair the sail as the wind continued to ease. Soon the conditions were glorious, and we decided it was finally time to make the most of them. Ready for a three-sail reach, we hoisted the lightweight spinnaker – but it spectacularly exploded after less than 5 minutes in the air! Replacing it with the smaller spinnaker, we began to make good progress towards Muckle Flugga.
The last eighteen hours to Muckle Flugga truly was the calm after the storm, a brief stretch of downwind sailing in 15 kt winds. Even with our larger spinnaker destroyed, we made excellent headway through the chilly waters. As dusk gave way to darkness at 22:00 on 19th August, we were delighted when Muckle Flugga finally came into sight and toasted with a glass (or two) of Champagne. It was time, at last, to head south into warmer waters.
After rounding Muckle Flugga, the storms of the Northern Atlantic became a distant memory and the first 200 nm of our southwards journey were painfully slow due to weak and fickle winds. Morale was high thanks to Max’s constant stream of poor jokes and useless facts (I think we preferred him unconscious and seasick), not to mention regular sightings of dolphins, whales and seabirds and longer, warmer days. The light winds were short-lived and east
of Aberdeen the winds picked up again to 35 kt again. We were reefing the mainsail at dusk when a particularly vicious gust tore a metre-long gash in the leech. We rapidly dropped the main and Simon ingeniously fixed the sail using deck sealant, sail patches and Gorilla tape. It was at moments such as this when our strength and cohesion as a team became invaluable. Special mention goes to Annika, who was almost launched skywards when a gust caught the sail as it lay on the deck. Soon the main was patched and re-hoisted just as darkness settled.
After three days of dodging oil rigs and wind farms in the North Sea as we journeyed south through very light winds, the breeze steadily built as we approached the Thames Estuary, leading to a speedy 12 hours in which our boat speed averaged 10 kt as week approached the Dover straits. We were ready to turn the corner and begin the final short stretch along the south coast to Cowes. But the conditions did not last: the wind veered to the west and dropped below 15 kt off Dover, before building again above 30 kt off Dungeness. Whilst putting in what we hoped would be the last reef of the race, disaster struck. A two-meter stretch of the mainsail leech ripped, making it unusable and resulting in a long night of beating towards Cowes under headsail alone, in storm force winds in torrential rain.
The end was almost in sight and it was agonising to be making such slow progress. Sailing between the traffic separation scheme and the Suffolk coast for six hours against an unfavourable tide, little progress was made, and team morale was low. But eventually the tide turned, and we began to make progress. After searching Talisman from top to bottom, every available sticky patch was used to fix the mainsail leech. We hoisted our patchwork sail for the last time and turned our sights (and stomachs!) towards the finish line.
At 1200 on 25th August, we passed No Man’s Land Fort to port, finally entering the Solent exactly 13 days after we started. Just over an hour later at 13:34 on 25th August, we finished in an elapsed time of 13 days 1 hour 34 minutes and 17 seconds. We finished 11th (IRC adjusted) out of 28 boats who started. The team was warmly welcomed on Trinity Landing by friends, family and the RORC race committee with several bottles of much-needed Champagne. Thrilled but exhausted, we rushed to the RORC Clubhouse for our first showers in two weeks.
OUYC would like to thank RORC and Sevenstar for organising such an incredible race. Most importantly, we would like to thank our skipper, Simon Harwood, for leading us round and, as always, for putting his trust in us whilst sailing Talisman!
Saturday saw OUYC host the annual intercollegiate sailing Cuppers. 10 teams of 4 took to the water.
Sailing experience ranged from squad members to complete beginners. Despite the wind showing its fickle nature the racing was hotly competed with the final results having to be made on individual race points.
Victory went to Exeter College White, Captained by Tiarnan Finney. Runners up were Lincoln College Blue captained by Rosie Williamson.