Seafly 45 (and Seafly 441)

I own and sail Seafly 441 out of the Exe sailing club in Exmouth, Devon.

I once had the pleasure of meeting Stan Herbert at his house in Countess Weir, Exeter, when he made me a new foot for the mast of Seafly 45, which I owned about 25 years ago. In those days, I simply kept it on the beach next to the sailing club and wintered it in a barn. Unfortunately one winter it got knocked by a tractor in the transom and although I tried to repair the damage I eventually gave it away to a bloke that I knew who was down on his luck and who I felt would benefit from the unique experience of sailing a Seafly on the Exe estuary. I last saw him gliding sideways gently up the Esuary on the flood tide. I did shout for him to put the plate down but I don’t think that he knew what I was on about. Anyway, I reckon I was party to taking his mind off his previous troubles, so I’m proud of that!! I never saw him or the boat again, so If you want to add it to your list, you could say ‘possibly Topsham’ or of course, if he didn’t make a landfall, you could add ‘… or possibly Budleigh Salterton!’

Chris Gooding (October 2010)