http://www.boatinternational.com | June 2018OWNERS’ CLUB
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES; ALAMY; ADOBE STOCK; MARTINEZ STUDIO; KOS PICTURES; GUIDO GRUGNOLAinthemiddleofthenighttofollow
the24HoursofLeMans,orlisten
tothegrandprixatMonteCarlo,
whichseemedtotallymagical.”
Home was New Brighton, across
the River Mersey from Liverpool,
and adventure and excitement
seemed very far away. But, thanks
tohismotherinparticular,they
were not entirely out of reach. “My
mother was a very bohemian, artist
sort of character who would draw
all day rather than do housework,” he says.
“My father was deadly serious, an engineer,
sensible sort of chap. But whereas my father
thought this was perfect, living in the north of
England,withanicefamily,Ithinkmymother
secretlyhadhopedformorebrightlightsand
more fun and more excitement and I’m sure she
transferred this to me and willed me somehow
toescapeanddosomethingelse.”
Hedid.Firsttoboardingschool150miles
awayintheMidlands,andthenfurther
south, to Oxford, where he studied modern
languages.“Myfatherwantedmetodoscience
and mathematics and physics and so on, and
my mother didn’t even dare say that she would
havepreferredmetodoEnglishandhistory
andmodernlanguages.Intheend,thanksto
areallygoodteacherIhad,mymother’sside
won.Thatwasadecisivemomentinmylife.”
SirLindsaywouldgoagainsthisfatherin
otherwaystoo.Owen-Jonesseniorhadserved
intheRoyalNavyduringtheSecondWorld
War.“Healwayssaidtheonlydistinguished
thingheeverdidwasgettingsunk,three
times, and surviving. That meant that he didn’t
thinktheseawasforfun.Myfatherwouldn’t
havegotonasailingboatifyou
paid him to.”
Butfun–andsailingboats–
wassomethingthatSirLindsay
wasbecomingincreasinglydrawn
to.HelearnedtosailinAlpha
dinghies on the Thames while
atOxfordandthenspenthis
student summers sailing Vauriens
inFrance,bytheIledeRéofLa
Rochelle. “Vaurien means literally
‘worthnothing’;theyweremade
outofplywoodandyouhadtoput
plasticbagsinsidetostopthem
sinking.Buttheyweregreatfun.”
Sailing in France was diferent
fromsailingontheThames.“It
wascompatiblewithbeinginthe
sun,andIthoughtthisisserious
fun; seriously exciting. And it“I think my mother
secretly had hoped for
more bright lights and
more fun and she willed
me somehow to escape”
Above: Sir Lindsay
after the 2016
Giraglia Rolex Cup
offshore race.
Right: Luca
Bassani’s sloop
GenieoftheLamp
From top: Sir Lindsay’s home town
ofNewBrighton;hisfamilyhada
Humber Hawk; Oxford; Sir Lindsay
the racing driver; at the wheel of
a Maserati Tipo 61 “Birdcage”