Sail in Stunning Northumberland

KWSC News Articles

(Article from March 2004)

Mike Garbutt

Sadly, early this year Mike Garbutt, a founding member of KWSC died whilst out walking. Christine Fair and Giles Passmore  have put together these few words for the Newsletter to say thank you to Mike.  We hope that all those who knew him can add their own thoughts and keep his memory.  He is sadly missed.

Mike was one of the founding members of what was then Kielder Water Club. At that time he sailed a Mirror Dinghy, and what has to be an abiding memory of Mike is seeing him in his dinghy with the bright red sail being outshone by the warm and happy smile on his face under the hat that he always seemed to wear - later he sailed a Tasar.

However while he took part in the racing, and was knowledgeable about racing matters and the management of racing, his biggest contribution to the success of Club events was his ability to organize the support of events. He did this almost without anyone realising it. Two events stand out as a memory of Mike.

For many years Mike ran the Oppies course. Always organised, with his bed and breakfast booked up at the Scott’s at Gowanburn, he would be ready well in advance testing the conditions and with the Oppies, patrol boats fuelled and everything ready for the day’s activities. I remember his collection of fruit juice squeezy bottles (lemons, raspberry and strawberry) - he was always on the lookout to replace those lost.  The collecting game played always caught the imagination of the mini sailors.  He gave an enormous amount of time, brought a lifetime of experience to the events and delivered it with a quiet humour and sense of fun and purpose.

Back in 1990, after a few days with Mike, I wrote for the Courant. It captures, for me, the flavour of his presence during those events.

"On a weekend when little ships were gathering on the South Coast to mark the 50th anniversary of the miracle of Dunkirk, another fleet of little ships arrived at Kielder Water Sailing Club to help train and enthuse a new generation of young sailors.  Six Optimist dinghies were hired to the club for five days so that youngsters aged six to twelve could set off on the road to sailing competence.  After a welcome and brief chat from instructor Mike Garbutt, boats were rigged and individuals dispatched on a solo sail from the slipway, to turn back and knock over Mike on their return – this was the ‘order of the day’.  Mike, through long experience, was easily capable of withstanding the onslaught.  The first three days produced the light breezes and warm conditions perfectly suited to treasure hunting afloat, tacking exercise, a picnic on a pirate shore and capsize practice.  As the youngsters were already wet from playing in the shallows, the capsize practice held few fears."

Involved in the early days of the Little America’s Cup he produced the paperwork and a competition grid to record the sequence of activities. He, and everyone, was aware of where they should be in the sequence of events at any particular time of the event. The Toppers were treated with the respect you would expect of a good seaman, with the boats carefully lifted, and the rudders and sheets all stowed with a correctness and precision. With the event over, the Toppers would be returned to Hawkhirst, and this was an adventure in itself as he shepherded his small fleet back safely but with an awareness of efficient sailing – I seem to recall a long upwind leg that we were encouraged to sail competitively!

In the early 90's Mike spent whole weekends serving the varied needs of the Club. His fun loving presence and organisation of the Bank Holiday Regatta urged us to report to he Hexham Courant in this manner: "Finding doubloons hurled into the sea by pirate master Mike Garbutt, whose dictum, 'There are no rules in this game' seemed more of an accommodation to reality rather than an instruction before the event provided an equally riotous game.  Much boarding of enemy craft and pillaging of booty was noted and ignored, but the master pirate had the last laugh in not telling competitors that some doubloons counted as negative points!"

At our Open Meetings Mike was quite the best Beach Master I have come across. There was never any panic, and the right trollies always appeared for the boats coming ashore. It was all down to preparation and good organisation.

Mike ran summer sessions with the Sea Scouts at Druridge Bay. Young Cubs and Scouts would arrive for taster sessions in Mirrors and a variety of sailors pressed into service by Mike would sail them around the Lake, give them a taste of the helm if they wished and take them through the confidence building games with balloons and footballs.

This ability to help and respect others, whatever their expectations of sailing – whether to race or potter, once a week or once a month – has helped many people of all ages and abilities to enjoy what has surely to be the one of the last great freedoms open to us, the freedom to take to the water. Very many at Kielder will look back at him with great fondness. In this respect Kielder and sailing has lost a great supporter and friend.

Latterly Mike took to helping run a steam railway. This may seem to be a complete change from sailing, but when you spoke to him about it, it seemed a very natural progression. He died doing what he enjoyed. He was up walking in the hills and had stopped for lunch. A kind way to go, but sadly far too soon.

Christine Fair and Giles Passmore.

 

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