D H Clarke, chronicler of salt water records, some of them inspiring, others futile, all attempts at mortality through superlative, has died at the age of 88.
Nobby Clarke collated his records in a battered potting shed behind his home at Woolverstone which looked out over the River Orwell in Suffolk.

He was a stickler for accuracy, taking sailing greats to task including Emma Richards, Tony Gooch and even Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, all of whom had been pipped at the post by others, he claimed.

He could follow great sea adventures vicariously from the sanctuary of his beloved shed. He might come into the house for prawn and mayonnaise sandwiches, but he was soon back in his domain from where he ran a successful writing, and publicity empire.

Hedge fund folks who prevent themselves from teetering on high City parapets with ‘life counsellors’, pilates, and mortgage-sized gymnasium fees, should pop down to Robert Dyas and buy a shed.