David and Nigel met a very long time ago, or, as Nigel would say “when the sky was full of bi-planes”. In fact, they were both fortunate to be appointed to the Hong Squadron in the early 1980’s as very junior Royal Naval officers. David was Gunnery Officer of HM Ships WASPERTON and WOLVERTON (not both at the same time!) and Nigel navigated HMS SWALLOW, one of the ‘new’ Hong Kong Patrol ships that replaced the elderly converted ’Ton’ class minesweepers.
Shared accommodation on the 25th floor of Prince of Wales building, HMS TAMAR, the Navy’s shore base in Hong Kong, combined with a common interest in the Rolling Stones, HK nightlife and Tsing Tao beer laid the foundation of a friendship that has continued through a mutual interest in sailing.
Nigel’s sailing includes extensive cruising around European waters but racing in the South China Sea and across the Pacific (San Francisco to Hawaii); largely thanks to a career that, in addition to Hong Kong, has included appointments in Singapore and Hawaii (some people are better than others at planning their career paths!) Most of David’s sailing has been restricted to the cooler and greyer waters of the Solent, much of it in the beautiful Portsmouth based Victory Class keelboats Z1, Woozle and Z54, Zelia. Over the last few years David has been Rear Commodore Sailing at Portsmouth Sailing Club, focused on supporting all forms of boating but particularly the Spring and Autumn Spithead Racing Series.