Dick Batt is my brother, and not a lot of people can say that. He's a famous racing sailmaker and has been UK champ of this or that dinghy class over the years...in fact he has represented the UK in the World Championships in New Zealand. We're dead proud of him. He's also on loads of committees of posh racing yacht clubs and stuff like that.

You can link to his site (by clicking this underlined bit of writing) and order a new sail for your dinghy and don't tell your mates- they'll all wonder why you are suddenly winning the local water gymkhana or whatever you yachty types call it when you race.

I'm not a TOTAL landlubber myself. I went off round the world [As far as Australia]in 1980 in my own yacht- but it was a big, (40 metre) effort with a funnel, so not exactly roughing it- except it's hard to hold on to your vodka and tonic in a force eight in the middle of the Pacific. Once I was thrown clean through a bulkhead by a huge wave, - without a stitch of clothes on (in the middle of the night, I hasten to add)- and landed on the chief engineer who was in bed at the time and who must've thought I was widening his job description. Laugh, we nearly did...

(MB note 26/1/99)

A Fleet of Batt Sails and a yellow Batt floating thing that I've forgotten how to spell.