Eight Bells: Peter Wilson
Last Tuesday, at 20 minutes after midnight, Peter Wilson picked up a 10 knot Northerly breeze and headed out for his final sail from Aldeburgh. Not sure what the world looks like without him, he meant so much to so many people.
Peter entered the family of Eights with the famously gorgeous 1930 Bjarne Aas design “If”. It was Uffa Fox who seduced Peter to find “If”, in 1937, the year Peter was born, he wrote:
“If is the best hard-weather 8-Metre yet seen in Norway and looking at her lines it is easy for us to imagine her driving to windward against a strong wind and sea. Of late years “If” has raced in British waters, her owner, Colonel Cleaver, living on board and sailing her round the coast to different regattas. At night she affords him a cosy little floating home, while in the day she gives him the pleasure of a racer.”
Well, those two lines ticked all the boxes for Peter and so the search started until he finally found her in Scotland. There she was, tucked away in a garden, a strange combination of love and neglect as trees had grown around and literally through her. Dr. Shirley had owned “If” for 45 years and, until he met Peter, he had refused any and all offers to sell.
Next, a mobile crane lifted her over the house and she was trucked over to the Aldeburgh boatyard. She arrived in “bone yard state” and left fully restored and painted red, of course she was red, all his boats had to be red! And so, “If” got her second lease on life. Once more she was racing with a crew of friends, providing them a cosy home at night while cruising from regatta to regatta with the wind on the nose, always on the nose!
Peter had an ever-curious mind, cheerful, kind, witty, well read, with a truly encyclopedic knowledge of anything that floated over the past 100 years. I dare say, he was somewhat eccentric too, you would find him raising the flag at 08:00 followed by; “Now John, would you join me for a cigar and a bloody Mary?” Once the crew crawled back in the cockpit, the first serve would be a tot of Linea Aquavit, a co-called “Hart starter”. The usual morning bet was who would die first, three of his crew got there first, now reunited, I bet they are laughing their heads off as Peter pays the wagers while serving another drink.
And then Peter decided that he should build a new modern Eight for the centennial of the Int. 8-Metre Class. He commissioned Juliane Hempel to design his next red boat, most suitably named “Ganymede”, for the “cup bearer to the gods” who was granted eternal youth by Zeus. He built her single-handedly in record time and launched her just days before the 2007 Worlds in Scotland. Full circle it was.
And some people knew Peter as Admiral Wilson too. Not that he ever served in the navy, let alone an Admiral, but that “title” has a wonderful story. It takes us back to 2009, back to France when Peter was waiting for the crane to lift his “If” out of the water. While he was preparing for the lift, the crane driver refused to stay the extra 10 minutes and walked away. I had an idea but didn’t tell Peter what it was and walked over to the harbor master to explain the situation. He too refused to cooperate. I then asked “Sir, do you realize who the man in the red boat is?” Answer, “No, should I?” Me: “Well, that man is Admiral Wilson and he is the highest decorated Admiral in the Royal Navy, now, if you don’t help him, you stand to cause a serious diplomatic incident which will not help you, the town nor France as a country”.
10 minutes later the crane driver was back, Peter’s boat was on the hard and, as the story went round, Peter became Admiral Wilson for the remainder of his life! Just one of so many stories that made Peter who he was, a man with an amazing mind, hands that could build anything, a man filled with stories of perfect sense and the all-important utter nonsense.
A unique human being whose indestructible body and mind defeated quantities alcohol and cigarettes beyond what any scientist could believe.
Well, I bet his friends John Haigh, John Bourke and Mike Hart were waiting at the gate for Peter with a Hart Starter in one hand, cigarette in the other and a lifetime of stories and laughter to share.
Peter is gone but he left us the memories of the sailor, the friend and the amazing boatbuilder he was.
Sail on dear Peter, sail on
Signed,
John Lammerts van Bueren
Honorary member, IEMA
