Paul Antrobus obituary

Paul sailing Antigua © Paul Antrobus

Paul Antrobus © Paul Antrobus

Sailors around the world will be sad to hear that British offshore sailing legend Paul Antrobus has crossed the bar. One of the "greats" of the IOR era of offshore racing, Paul had a distinguished career both afloat and ashore.

He learnt to sail in Brightlingsea on the east coast of England, where his family had a holiday chalet, before progressing to offshore racing from Burnham of Crouch. However the lure of the more vibrant offshore scene based in the Solent soon had him sailing on Geoff Pattinson's Fanfare from where he progressed to such well known boats of the time as Quiver IV and Pattinson's Phantom. This would be his introduction to Admiral's Cup competition, with Phantom a member of the winning British team in the 1969 Cup.

Ron Amey was one of the most successful owners of this era with a string of boats named Noryema and he invited Paul to join his crew. Notably he was sailing master on board Noryema VIII in 1972 when they won the St. David's Lighthouse Trophy for the overall winner of the Newport-Bermuda race, the first non-American boat to do so and to this day still the only non-American boat to do so.

During this time he was part of the British team in several Southern Cross Cup and Onion Patch series, also joining Australian Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin crew for the 1971 Southern Cross Cup.

One of the outstanding figures of the era of great amateur sailors, he was still with Ron Amey on Noryema X when they were part of the 1975 victorious British Admiral's Cup team. His last major international event was the 1976 One Ton Cup in Marseilles, racing on John McCarthy's Solent Saracen.

His mantra when racing offshore was simple. Have we got the right sails up? Are the sails properly trimmed?

Ashore he held down a successful career in marketing, initially with Guinness and White Horse Whisky, then moving to Brussels to work for Levi Strauss, before returning to White Horse. He was very influential in White Horse's title sponsorship of the Royal Thames Yacht Club's America's Cup challenge for the 1987 Cup in Fremantle, Western Australia, also in organising the White Horse sponsorship of the One Ton Cup in Torquay 1974.

He was a long term member of the Colne Yacht Club, Royal Ocean Racing Club and Royal Thames Yacht Club. In later life he was Commodore of Weybridge Sailing Club, a family friendly Thames-side club close to his home.

Married to Angie, a former yachting journalist, they were both 'founding fathers' of esteemed organisation Society of International Nautical Scribes (SINS), which was initiated in the kiddies paddling pool at the Rushcutters Bay Travelodge on a hot Sydney afternoon during the 1972 One Ton Cup. Prominent members of the sailing media present that day were Bob Ross, Rob Mundle, Keith Taylor, Alan Sefton and Bob Fisher.

Other nebulous associations with which Paul was involved included the infamous Auscrew, which morphed out of the 1971 Admiral's Cup, when it was claimed that every boat in the trials for the British team had an Australian in the crew. Auscrew and SINS parties were equally notorious. Paul and Angie were both at the 50th anniversary Auscrew party in Cowes in September 2021.

Paul was also a published author, often working with others to bring the details of offshore racing to the rest of the sailing world. He was a regular contributor to a number of boating publications, most recently writing a drinks column for All At Sea magazine until just three months ago.

With his long history in the drinks business Paul was a magnificent host and raconteur. His cabinet was never short of a variety of tipples and his head was full of great stories from afloat and ashore, which would spill out when encouraged by a few drinks. With a twinkle in his eye, he was never short of ideas for anything from party themes to making a quid or two. His smile, wit and knowledge will be missed by all who were fortunate enough to have sailed with or against him, or just share a drink or two.