Geoff Brown on Boating

Yes, I can remember one Cowes Week, after we’d got our 18-footer, dinghies …. Cowes Week, the dinghies used to race in the afternoon off Cowes Green and it was in later years when the main clubs bribed the dinghies to go away because they were getting in the way, so they were moved around to Gurnard for Dinghy week.

But at that time, we were racing off the Green and I can remember we were coming off the Royal Yacht Squadron and coming across on the tide and getting the boat wrapped up on the anchor chain of a Belgian Minesweeper.

There was quite a strong tide off the entrance to the Harbour. We were pushed more and more onto this chain, and we couldn’t get our centre board up because the chain was actually in the space where the centre board come up.

If we pushed ourselves off we would probably have got smashed on the bow of the Minesweeper.

So, we’re sitting there trying to work out what to do. East Cowes Sailing Club rescue boat came near us but didn’t want to come too close and while this was going on the Belgian sailor on anchor watch took one look at us and started looking the other way; he didn’t want to know.

In the end, the East Cowes Rescue Boat managed to get a line across to us and managed to drag us off.