Beverley George Moss: 23rd September 1941 - 22nd February 2015
by Dougal Henshall 25 Feb 2015 13:05 GMT
25 February 2015
Big Bev
Looking back 50 years or more, trapezing was still finding its feet out on the gunwale, as the equipment used and the techniques employed were being rapidly developed. The life of the crew was fast becoming far more than one just being ballast, as from their viewpoint out on the wire, they had a far better vantage point when looking both at the rig and the tactical situation. It would take the very best of these early crews to master the techniques of advanced crewing, trapezing whilst spinnaker reaching in big seas, strong winds and a large fleet. In addition to the physical demands, crews were now calling the shots on tactics and were, quite simply, the difference between success and failure. Crewing had become a discipline in its own right and one such individual, who would go on to become one of the very best trapeze crews on the world dinghy racing stage, was Beverley 'Bev' Moss, who has sadly died this week.
By all rights Bev should have been born a Londoner, but his family had been evacuated out of the city during the dark early days of the war. Instead, he was born on the 23rd September 1941 in Cheltenham, though the family would return to London once peace was restored. Bev grew up closely associated with the flower trade, as his father ran a wholesale florists in Covent Garden, but neither this nor his name brooked any comment, as Bev had grown up tall and powerfully built. Whilst at school at Crayford, he channelled his energies into cricket, where his build and athleticism saw him develop into an excellent fast bowler. When he reached the standard of being good enough to be taken on by the Surrey County cricket team as a colt player, it look as if he might make a career in the game. When he did not have a match scheduled, Bev would sometimes be 'loaned out' to other teams, on one such occasion he was put in to play against an adult village team. Bev later recalled the village blacksmith, complete with black beard, the local carpenter and others, but they were no match for his growing skills with the ball. Having taken 6 wickets for just 4 runs, the opposing captain surrendered with an admission that Bev was just "too good for us" (by the sound of things, the England Team could do with Bev right now!).
There then came one of those life-changing moments. Having moved down to Hastings, on a wet and windy day when no cricket was possible, Bev was asked to crew in a Merlin Rocket and became hooked on dinghy sailing. What cricket lost, dinghy racing gained, as Bev soon became a sought after crew. Then came a second key moment in Bev's life, when Percy Chandler gave him the chance to sail in an early 505. By the standards of today, the trapeze gear sounded scarily antiquated! Far from the quick release systems now in use, the hook on the harness was more like a gate latch, once that was closed, you really were 'locked on'! Recently, when describing that day, the excitement was still clearly apparent in Bev's voice. He said that being stood out on the gunwale, clear of the boat, was just an amazing experience and he immediately knew that this was what he wanted to be doing. After quickly building up a great reputation as a 505 crew, another great opportunity came his way when he got asked to crew for Doug Bishop in the Flying Dutchman. Although tall, Bev lacked some of the heavy weight that characterised FD crews back then, but he and Doug quickly developed the techniques that enable him to become one of the very best FD crews in the then strong UK fleet.
The Bishop/Moss partnership went on to develop an extended run of winning form, one that looked capable of upsetting the form guide and knocking the big names of Oakley and Pattison out of contention. However, even as they stood on the brink of success, it was all to go wrong. Bishop was quietly spoken to by the UK Olympic Team Managers (this was well before 'Team GBR') and told that he would never make the top spot with an underweight crew. The partnership was broken up, with Bev being effectively 'dropped'. It is a measure of the man, that when describing how this was done, he spoke without any real rancour for the way he was treated. Worse, the records now show that without Bev in the boat, Doug Bishop did not go any quicker and never reached the top spot.
By now Bev was a one of a rare breed of sailors, who having chosen to be at the front of the boat, had worked to hone and perfect the art of the top crew. With these rare skills to hand, Bev was never going to be long out of a job. Acknowledged by now as one of the very best, Bev was soon back crewing in his first love, the 505, where his skills were very much in demand as the 'go to' choice for the likes of Derek Farrant and Peter White (with whom Bev would win a hard fought National Championships from a 100+ boat fleet).
It was at this time that Barry Dunning was taking a break from Merlin Rockets and the Olympic scene to be with the 505 fleet. In those days, in between being another 'live wire' ashore, Barry was 'Mr. Javelin', working with the sailing clothing company of that name. Javelin had some bright yellow material in stock and made Bev his famous yellow sailing suit that earned him the knick-name 'super canary' (there were other knick-names but they cannot be used here!)
Away from the racecourse, from the very earliest days Bev had been at the forefront of the 'sail hard afloat, play hard ashore' group and with his ever-present humour and endless supply of jokes, he was an essential member of the elite band of 505 crews. Time on shore with Bev could sometimes take on a larger than life dimension, for his ties with the East End of London could see him rubbing shoulders with some real cockney characters, not all of whom could be described as 'desirable'. A day out in London with Bev, to go and see his beloved West Ham play Liverpool in the Cup, would turn into a night in East London pubs that had more villains than BBC's 'East Enders'! It was in a pub that Bev's life would change again, when he met Sue, a singer and dancer from the BBC TV variety programme, 'The Black and White Minstrels Show'. Bev and Sue were married in 1978 and in 1980 their daughter Tracy was born (with Tracy going on to become a highly successful helm in her own right, as one of Jim Saltonstall's 'ferret squad'). Jim, who had been involved in a number of training sessions with the 505 teams selected for the World Championships, worked with Bev as one of the 'Oppie parents', would pay tribute to him, as "the perfect crew afloat and the perfect gent ashore".
By now the family had moved along the coast and were living at Hayling Island and it was here that Bev would create another career for himself as part of the Hayling 'All stars' Race Team. Once he had retired, Bev was often seen out on one of the Committee Boats, involved with everything from regular open meetings to the largest World Championships.
In the same way that Bev's character had made him such a focal point in the 505 scene, so his upbeat personality and ready humour made him an essential part of a successful race team. A real high spot for Bev came in 2006, when Hayling Island SC hosted the 505 World Championships and he was able to catch up with so many of the great friendships he had forged in the past. With his spot-on punch line timing, he also came up with the joke of the Championships, cracked just as a German TV crew were attempting to conduct an interview with one of their well placed teams; the laughter was so loud and prolonged, the TV crew ended up having to beat a strategic retreat to a quieter and 'more responsible' location!
There was still better to come, when in 2012, Bev, who was openly proud of his 'Britishness', became part of the Race Team running one of the courses at the Olympic Regatta at Weymouth.
The following year would see Bev hospitalized following his first bout of serious ill-health, only for him to bounce back into the bar at Hayling Island with just as much laughter in his voice as ever. Sadly, he would be dogged by further problems and despite some wonderful care from the medical teams at the Queen Alexandra Hospital at Portsmouth Bev, would lose his hardest fought fight at the relatively early age of 73.
For a generation of top trapeze crews, the loss is very real indeed. As a fellow competitor and leader ashore, he will be irreplaceable. Who else would have the bearing to stand up to a swindling restaurant owner, whilst quietly uttering the immortal phrase "nice place you have here, shame we have to take it apart", yet with such force of character that the patron immediately corrected the inflated bill. Be it afloat or ashore, the world of sailing, be it in a performance dinghy or as part of a skilled race team, has just become a quieter place, but let there be no sadness in the air. Bev would not want it nor his family ask it. Nor should we be afraid for him, for Bev was a past master at making the right call to 'go high or go low', the great man that he was would surely have gone high in this case! Instead, let us just remember a man who was one of the great pioneers in making world class crewing what it is today. Thank you Bev, wherever you're going I'm sure that you are out on the wire and are calling the shots along the way!
