He’d shown himself to be one tough old bird by sailing his Dragon from Glandore across the Celtic Sea and the western approaches of the English Channel to Brest for one of Brittany’s many Festivals of Sail. Under the foredeck was a tightly packed heavy-duty plastic bag, and when Brest was finally reached in the inevitable sodden state, the bag was pulled out and carefully unpacked, and Captain Street stepped ashore in dry clothes including a dazzlingly white shirt with RORC tie, and a classic blue-black reefer jacket.

There’s lots of advertising, and a terrible design! But it’s good to be aware of the scale of what can be achieved given the right environment in the world of Classic Yacht Regattas.

Just by looking at him, one would hardly guess that once upon a time, Paul Johnson was a famous boat designer: an old man, he is now living on a diet of beer and vodka, his body giving out just like his vessel.