My feelings of inadequacy are deepening. It’s what comes of comparing yourself with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, I suppose.

In his recent book, Force of Nature, Sir Robin states that he comes from the Bill Tilman school and avoids wearing gloves whenever possible.

‘It’s not just a grip issue,’ says Britain’s greatest living yachtsman. ‘I find that if I leave my hands bear in cold climates they respond by pumping more blood through themselves. Everyone thinks you are butch and hardy, but in fact you are not suffering at all.’

All this was academic until I lost my motorcycle gloves yesterday.

‘I’ll be fine,’ I thought to myself, ‘My body will respond and just pump some more blood.’

Yeh – right! I could hardly move my frozen digits by the time I climbed off after my 30-minute commute. More proof, not that it was needed, that Sir Robin is cut from different cloth.