Oakeley

   So 2016 takes another...

Sir John D A Oakeley.

I've just taken out his book "Winning - The Boat, The Crew & The Race"

He was a man this forum would have loved. Not just a great sailor, but an innovator too. Just looking at the picture inside the front cover of his FD "Shadow" being sailed by him and David Hunt. Possibly one of the greatest photos of a dinghy being sailed perfectly - Hunt statuesque on the trapeze, slot between genoa and main inch perfect. This man inspired me.

I will try and find a way to post that picture over the Christmas period.

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Oinks Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 24 Oct 14 Location: Bandol Online Status: Offline Posts: 267	Post Options Post Reply Quote Oinks Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Oakeley Posted: 22 Dec 16 at 8:16pm
	So 2016 takes another... Sir John D A Oakeley. I've just taken out his book "Winning - The Boat, The Crew & The Race" He was a man this forum would have loved. Not just a great sailor, but an innovator too. Just looking at the picture inside the front cover of his FD "Shadow" being sailed by him and David Hunt. Possibly one of the greatest photos of a dinghy being sailed perfectly - Hunt statuesque on the trapeze, slot between genoa and main inch perfect. This man inspired me. I will try and find a way to post that picture over the Christmas period.

fab100 Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 15 Mar 11 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1005	Post Options Post Reply Quote fab100 Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 22 Dec 16 at 10:20pm
	IIR, there's a story in Winning, possibly even a pic, of them planing the FD home under bare poles it had got so windy. Edited by fab100 - 22 Dec 16 at 10:21pm
	Great book for Club Sailors here

jaydub Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 06 Jan 07 Online Status: Offline Posts: 267	Post Options Post Reply Quote jaydub Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 22 Dec 16 at 11:59pm
	Just dug out my copy of Winning. Bought for the princely sum of £3. Bit of a bargain. There's certainly a pic of them sailing the FD in winds averaging 35 knots. A tad windy, so no great surprise that the main is flogging a bit. Will see if I can find the story of sailing under bare poles. The man was certainly an innovator. I can recall him selling compensator sails under the Oakley sails badge. And I think he may have had a hand in the bendy mast on Lionheart.

Oinks Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 24 Oct 14 Location: Bandol Online Status: Offline Posts: 267	Post Options Post Reply Quote Oinks Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 23 Dec 16 at 10:01am
	Read Chapter 17 about stopwatches. A whole chapter on yer stopwatch. Does anyone even think about their stopwatch these days? Only maybe when it hides itself in the darkest recesses of your kitbag and you run around in a complete blue funk cos you can't find it!

Oinks Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 24 Oct 14 Location: Bandol Online Status: Offline Posts: 267	Post Options Post Reply Quote Oinks Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 26 Dec 16 at 11:10am
	This was what I wanted to be when I was about 11 years old. IMHO a truly great shot of a racing dinghy, and one of the great teams.

MerlinMags Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Admin Group Joined: 19 Mar 04 Location: UK, Guildford Online Status: Offline Posts: 585	Post Options Post Reply Quote MerlinMags Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 17 Jan 17 at 11:50am
	I would take "winning" out of the local library often, as a teenager. I must hunt down a copy on ebay for my collection. Pictures like the one above are great fun to look at, even if the clothes make you smirk a bit. Was it "Winning" that had the story about painting the hull bottom with egg, and letting it dry in the sun before a race?

Oinks Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 24 Oct 14 Location: Bandol Online Status: Offline Posts: 267	Post Options Post Reply Quote Oinks Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 17 Jan 17 at 11:34pm
	Got mine in just about perfect condition (plus a number of other gems) for under £25 from Amazon. Three (Winning) on there now from £5.49. I also bought at the same time...Winning in One Designs (\|D Perry)...Jack Knights Sail Racer..Start to Win by Eric Twiname (Original version), and (wonder if anyone remembers this)Small Sailboat Racing With the Champions by Bob Fisher (c.1975ish). All great books for a dark winter's evening in front of the fire! And, yes, the clothes look a bit dated, but they looked better on them than what my Dad and I were resorting to at the time! That was cutting edge late 60s/early 70s! And the weird stories of what people got up to in those days to win a race....I'd have been scraping the egg off, slapping itbetween two bits of bread with brown sauce and breakfast sorted.

patj Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 16 Jul 04 Location: Wiltshire Online Status: Offline Posts: 640	Post Options Post Reply Quote patj Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 18 Jan 17 at 7:38am
	I bought a copy of Winning from Bookbarn for £1 just a couple of days before his death was announced. It's where most of my older sailing books have come from but it does eat up a few hours trawling through their shelves!

MerlinMags Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Admin Group Joined: 19 Mar 04 Location: UK, Guildford Online Status: Offline Posts: 585	Post Options Post Reply Quote MerlinMags Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 18 Jan 17 at 9:18am
	"it does eat up a few hours" ???? I think you meant "it does mean a joyous few hours".

Dougaldog Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Far too distracted from work Joined: 05 Nov 10 Location: hamble Online Status: Offline Posts: 356	Post Options Post Reply Quote Dougaldog Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 18 Jan 17 at 10:07am
	Whilst 'JohnO' was a real gent in the truest use of the word, it shouldn't be overlooked that a lot of the mythology surrounding goings on in Shadow ( FD K133) was really the 'antics' of his irrepressible crew, David Hunt. David was also involved in a lot of the innovation that went on, he wasn't only in the front of the boat but he was way out front in terms of thinking! On audio tape (and video!) I've a couple of lovely cameos of Jack Chippendale talking about the young John Oakley, getting his first all new National 12 - even then, Jack recognised him as a helm that would be 'going places'! From there of course John went on into Merlins and with 3 wins, a 2nd, a 4th and 5th place helped cement the reputation of the Proctor/Chippendale combination as the 'winning' brand. Dougal
	Dougal H