Michael Kitchen
Michael Kitchen
Michael Kitchen
When did you start sailing and why did you take it up?
I grew up in the centre of Leicester. Not a lot of sailing opportunities in Leicester. The nearest water was the canal near the football ground on the other side of the railway. The nearest sail would probably have been on Rutland Water but I wasn’t aware of it: it was simply not on the agenda.
The sea… perhaps because we only saw it for a week annually, perhaps because my dad was in the navy during the war… has always had the most powerful attraction and I’ve loved the idea of boats for as long as I can remember however inaccessible but it wasn’t until friends emigrated to NZ a few years ago and left us what was left of their GP14 that we did something about it.
What’s your boat history?
That’s it… the dinghy: so beaten up when we got it that it didn’t matter what happened to it and it was a great time larking about in Poole Harbour.
What boat do you currently sail?
A huge shift in attitude after sailing with some fairly serious people on various dinghies and cruisers etc. led me to the only other boat I’ve owned… still do… a Starlight 35. Dinghy to 36’ was quite a leap.
What is it about sailing that attracts you?
One of the greatest appeals is its ability, if it doesn’t solve it, to delete whatever problem might be lurking in your head at the very least for the time you’re out there.
Do you get sea-sick? What’s your cure if any?
Never been sea-sick. I came fairly close on an overnight from Lymington to Falmouth in gales a couple of years ago but nothing finally happened and still got a clean sheet…
Ever fallen in?
Never fallen in….. which is now, of course, about to change.
Is there anything about sailing that you don’t like?
There’s absolutely nothing about sailing that I don’t like.
There are a few sailing people out there I’m not particularly fond of: you know the sort.
Do you have any sailing heroes?
Those with such enormous experience, shaped by the sea like driftwood, who are generous-spirited and have a well rounded view/understanding of the world as a result, are enviable.
It’s impossible not to mention Pete Goss.
What would tempt you to buy motor over sail?
A time perhaps when, for whatever reason, it might be a problem getting about the boat but there’d have to be a colossal drop in fuel prices….…. so I’ll be sailing.
Any navigational howlers you’d be prepared to admit to?
Of course not!
First published August 2008 By the Dart