wrr
Active member
The worlds of sailing, non-disabled and disabled, and sailmaking will be poorer for the loss of Andy Cassell of Cowes who died this week (see rys - Post). Born without lower limbs, he was headed for the 1964 Olympics when funding did not materialise, so instead, he went to Atlanta in 1996 and won a Paralympic gold medal. He championed sailing for those with disabilities but was in demand as a helmsman at the highest level including sailing through the 1979 Fastnet in a J30 (Andy’s Experience of the Notorious 1979 Fastnet Race – Andrew Cassell Foundation). I first met Andy when Ratsey and Lapthorn said they would send someone to measure up my small humble but classic yacht. Not knowing Andy, I warned him about getting his feet wet as we launched my dinghy. "It's all right, I haven't got any", came the reply. Andy was devoid of self pity; requiring a crutch a few years ago, he went to lengths to explain that it was nothing to do with his legs, rather he had injured his back falling some distance onto a pontoon after an ample dinner at a distinguished yachting establishment in Cowes! He was a great raconteur and deserved bon viveur; collecting a sail from Ratsey's always involved lunching at the Island Sailing Club, so much so that on one occasion, to his great amusement, I set off leaving the brand-new sail behind on the pontoon. Few have better answered Masefield's request: "And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover".
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