Talking to a Coastguard recently who reminded me that the RAF and the Royal Navy helicopters which have been used over the years to rescue yachtsmen, are not primarily there for that purpose.

‘You yotties forget,’ he told me,stabbing a finger into my chest, ‘that the ellycopters which hover over you are actually there to rescue their own.’

But surely a lack of clumsy pilots has meant they’ve not had much to do, I tentatively ventured?

‘Listen the military are not there to rescue Freddy Climber who goes up a mountain in flip-flops, nor are they there to rescue Dicky Durham when he gets lost in Saucy Sue off Norfolk, nor are they there to lift Old Mother Hubbard off her caravan roof during a flood, or Mrs Bloggs whose gone into severe labour while on the beach. They will do  all of these things, but’ he paused, ‘they are actually there to rescue Johnny Flier when he ditches in the sea.’

So now you know, thank-you Colin Coastguard.