Andy Cassell

By Carron Snagge

Others have written far more eruditely about Andy’s immense contribution to sailing more generally, which was quite extraordinary.

But, being an outstanding keelboat sailor in Cowes, particularly in Dragons and later Sonars (and more or less anything else afloat!), he had a profound and enduring impact on the Daring Class. He was there at the beginning, wrote the first version of how to set up and trim a Daring (which is still in use today), was the first approved sailmaker for the class, set up the class’s unique sail purchasing regime and was the longest serving member of the Controlling Board.

Throughout the life of the Class his wisdom, experience, knowledge and humour have been a constant and enduring influence upon its development and success over 60 years. But it was not just his world class ability as a keelboat helmsman; it was his complete denial of any disability, his physical and mental strength, his seemingly symbiotic relationship with whatever boat he happened to be sailing and his wonderful self-deprecating sense of humour, even in the most difficult and dangerous situations, that those of us who were lucky enough to sail with him will remember. He was truly unique and he will be sorely missed.

I would now like to copy three excerpts, two of which might be considered authoritative, and the latter set highly suspect!

Andy Cassell, picture from A Daring Affair

In His Own Words

A Daring Affair, 1961-2011, The Daring Class Association

After winning the National Albacore Championship in 1961, I was sponsored by Tiny Mitchell, the founder of the RCYC in Burnham and Cowes and the CCYC. Tiny's former home is now the RCYC (Ed: now RORC) in Cowes. Unfortunately, after just one year of sponsorship, Tiny died and at the same time my parents fell on hard times financially so my dreams of competing and winning gold in the 1964 Olympics ended.

It was the Aisher family and their Daring project that came to my rescue and gave me a new sailing interest. The Aishers had purchased five 5.5 metre class yachts based on an Arthur Robb design; the idea was to establish a one-design class in Cowes. Robin Aisher's sister, Clare Connell, who rarely raced her Daring, lent me her boat; this was Daring I. I swiftly set about recruiting my sailing friends as crew. Some of them were to stay with the Daring class for many years. From those early years I can recall Andrew Porteous, Bill Mew (a member of the well known Island brewing family) and they both crewed for John Southern. Then there was Simon Whitney, Peter Stevens, Brian Knivett, Tony Ballard, Andy Moore, David Sheriff (later owner of Destroyer), two medical men — Ian Kelly and Paul Kennedy — and of course my brother George who crewed for Boz Ferranti.

There were some owners who were great characters and pretty good sailors — John Southern, Boz and Hilary Ferranti, John Green, Richard Syme, John Raymond (both senior and junior) Mrs Dreyfus, Henry & Dr Molly Hewlett, Geoffrey and Jonathan Gilbert, Anthony Matusch, Tony Boyden, Ian McKinnon, these in addition to all those still racing in the class and featured in the Handbook. It was a very competitive class that attracted first class sailors.

As well as excellent racing, the class from the very beginning also had a fun social side. I can remember one cocktail party at the RTYC when David Milford-Haven invited a party of us to join him at his local pub. A violent storm was raging, the pub, being in a basement, was flooded which meant that all the assembled customers wading about in water. Next day, I had to administer WD40 to my feet—some of the Daring members will know why! Other fond memories are of being entertained by Tony Boyden at his lovely house during the Poole Bay Olympic Sailing Regatta.

In 1965, I joined Anderson Aerosails and became involved with making jibs for the Darings, which were based on a design developed by Anderson's for Robin Aisher's Olympic Bronze Medal boat. However, the mainsails and spinnakers were being made in Cowes by Ratsey & Lapthorn. Some years later when I was a Director of Arun Sails in Sussex we made all the sails, jibs, mainsails and spinnakers. But since 1981 when I became a Director of Ratsey & Lapthorn, the sail making has moved back to Cowes and we have made all the sails here with the exception of the last three lots of jibs.

During the 80s and 90s as more sailors came into the class, it seemed a good idea to write a guide to racing a Daring. Ken Newman and I put this together and I hope that it helped some novice sailors, and possibly a few others, to develop skills and move the class forward.

I remember well one particular team race match against Seawanhaka either in the late seventies or early eighties (Nicki Gumprik was in the US team). Somewhere there is an RYS photograph of both teams, unfortunately I do not remember who all our team were, but I think Charles Perry, John Southern and lan Mackinnon were part of the team. My crew were Andrew Porteous and Bill Mew and we managed to win every race. In those days I preferred my crew to stay under the windward deck which left a clear view for me and enabled the crew to have a beer or sandwich. Occasionally they would enquire as to how we were doing, and if the answer was in the positive they were fine. Towards the end of the series we were sailing downwind, in the lead, when our spinnaker halyard became unclipped and we almost sailed over it. Andrew and Bill did a great job retrieving it without a single tear, which in about 18 knots of wind is good going. I then asked who was going to climb the mast to retrieve the halyard and it was quickly obvious there were no volunteers. In those days I had very strong upper body strength so up I went - Andrew took the helm and Bill hauled me up the mast on the jib halyard. By the time the spinnaker halyard had been retrieved we had sailed such a long way downwind it was not worth rejoining the race and finishing last, we returned to the RYS for a gin or two and requested maximum average points, which, much to our relief, we were granted.

It has been my privilege over time to race with many of the great characters of the Daring fleet; over a number of years I raced with Julian Gilbert and, of course, with Ken Newman on his beloved Dolphin (only 26 Fastnet Races is it Ken?). I have so many happy memories of post race G & Ts on the terrace of Ken and Jenny's waterside house. Of course Ken is a navigator and he liked to bob up and down to check where we were. His wife Jenny had the answer in the form of a fly swat tied to the seat which I could administer to his head, with great effect.

Some of the skills learnt sailing in the Daring class have been of enormous value, helping me to have a varied and interesting racing career on so many boats - classic yachts, all the metre classes, ¼, ½ and tonners plus many more. Then in 1996, over thirty years on, my youthful dream of a Gold medal manifested itself in the form of a Paralympic Gold, after which I was made an honorary member of the Daring class of which I am immensely proud.

Note: Andy is the only the only person to have climbed a Daring mast with artificial legs

Sail on Admiral

Magnus Wheatley, formerly #32 Destroyer; CCYC member; and Yachting Journalist

Tuesday was a tough afternoon for the sailing community in Cowes as we learned of the passing of the great Andy Cassell, Admiral of the Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club and founder of the remarkable Andrew Cassell Foundation.

Commodore Richard Hargreaves issued a poignant yet brilliant note that said it all, saying:

“I have the sad duty to inform you all, that our Admiral, stalwart of the Club, Olympic Gold Medallist, Albacore National Champion, respected and winning helmsman of Dragons, Sonars and many race yachts of all sizes, connoisseur of Gin, raconteur, a man who helmed J30 Joggernaught through the night of the 1979 Fastnet, a man who everyone loved to meet in the bar with that smile and a twinkle in his eye and a warm handshake, to my personal heartache and everyone’s sadness, died in the early hours of this morning after a short illness, but in his sleep. He will leave large holes in all sorts of places, in particular the stool in the corner of the bar at CCYC.”

For as long as I can remember, Andy was such an integral part of the Cowes sailing community. When I trashed a 420 spinnaker back in the late 1980’s, Andy repaired it free of charge recognising that I was down on my uppers as a student. Etchells followed, and a torn luff cable was taken down to Ratsey’s where Andy was happy to help and more interested in ‘how’ we’d torn it and the backstory, chuckling at our misfortune. There was no sucking of teeth, Andy just got on with it as he did with everything in life. The last time we spoke, it was at length about the America’s Cup in Barcelona and his thirst for insight was remarkable.

Born without legs and deformed hips, Andy’s disability was no barrier to his success on the water that arguably peaked with a deserved gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games where sailing was a demonstration event. First and foremost he was the most remarkable sailor. On the water he was wily, experienced and had an eye for opportunity. Sailing against him in Darings on the few occasions he came out, was a test. You had to be on your mettle for the entire course as any variance proffered up an opportunity that you could be damned sure would see the smiling Andy take.

Off the water Andy was generous with his time and encouraging of every form of sailing whilst forming and leading the Andrew Cassell Foundation which over the years has given so much back to the sport of inclusive sailing.

Set up with the goal ‘to enable individuals with physical disabilities and impairments to race competitively in sailing on an equal level playing field with and against able bodied sailors, in an inclusive and equal environment in all classes,’ the Foundation is a thriving entity today under the superb direction of Matt Grier who, along with committed others, will continue to do a superb job in Andy’s honour going forward.

But it’s as a racing sailor that I will personally remember Andy and nothing encapsulates his seamanship as much as in the fateful Fastnet Race in 1979 where, in horrendous conditions, he skippered a boat safely to port in Dumore, Ireland, after what was undoubtedly the toughest of tests. Andy gives a full account in his biography, which I thoroughly recommend, where I borrow a few pertinent paragraphs:

My dinghy experience proved valuable as we tried every angle of sailing to find the best way for the boat (and us) to survive. Phil suggested that we head into the wind and stream warps but our warps were not long or heavy enough to slow ‘Joggernaut’ down and I feared that the force of the water as the boat went astern would tear off the rudder. We then tried running dead down wind but in a boat with the J30’s ability to plane this proved nearly fatal. We shot off at an alarming rate like a surf board out of control and I shouted that if we continued like this we would go down the front of a wave and disappear for ever. Beam reaching was nearly as disastrous as we had the mast in the water several times with the force of the waves on the side of the boat and the force of the wind in the rigging.

We then decided to sail the boat with waves on the quarter and steer it like a dinghy, this was also extremely difficult. It was like riding a particularly wild roller coaster ride surrounded by the most incredible roaring and hissing. On the Tuesday night I was down below trying to sleep on some sail bags on the floor when at about 2.00am the boat was knocked down. Below deck was reduced to a chaotic mess of cushions, food and broken glass. Tim and Phil had been wearing life lines but had been swept off deck. The boat rolled through an angle of some 110-120 degrees and recovered. I reached the deck to find Tim and Phil being hauled back on board. As Phil came over the rail he was singing ‘Jesus wants me for a sunbeam’.

Thankfully they all survived and were cheered and clapped into port, sailing in as the engine had taken on water, no electronics and under a jury rigged mainsail using a spinnaker pole as the boom. Incredible feat but then again, Andy did the incredible and continued to do so for the rest of his life.

His legacy in Cowes and to the wider para community is immense. It’s visual too with disabled sailors on the water all through the season on the Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club’s fleet of Sonars. Very few of us will leave a legacy like Andy’s.

Sail on Admiral. We won’t forget you in a hurry.

Miscellaneous Recollections of the Daring Class

Duncan Byatt

An amazing sailor and a lovely man. When I joined the Daring Class in the esrly 1990s, he told me that the first Daring, and perhaps even first boat, he crewed on was Medina II. So he was very generous in offering to show me how to tune the rig. He rang me the day before we were due to do this and said ''Sorry, I've broken my leg". I was immediately very concerned and asked him how long it would take to heal. To which he replied, "Oh, don't worry, I'll get a new one in the post on Monday!".

If, like me, you didn't already know, it was very difficult to tell that he had an artificial limb. We duly tuned the boat, which he then borrowed for the Island Challenge Cup against the Americans. He won every race, and handed Medina II back saying, "Well, there's not much wrong with the boat, Duncan". He came and helmed Medina on several occasions - always great fun, and a font of knowledge, which he was very happy to impart to others. He will be much missed.

Roger Marwood

It's a similar story (to Duncan's) with Audax, but sadly we didn’t win quite so many races as he was hampered by our crew! He was an inspiration to us all, a lovely man, and will be missed.

A legend in his own lifetime.

Myles Harrison

After drinking his usual large quantities of gin Andy headed down the RCYC steps for home. He then preceded to trip and fall in to the road where upon a car drove on top of his legs.

Horrified, the driver got out and hysterically apologised.

Andy merely asked if he could reverse off his legs where upon to stunned amazement of the driver, Andy raised himself up on his crutches straightened his bent legs and headed off home!

Many many years ago when I was a nipper Andy asked me to crew for him on a dragon. It was a time when there was a fleet of 20! We had an amazing race and were lying 2nd to Ian Lallow in his beautiful own built dragon Mayfly.

We had an amazing tacking duelling to the finish line on the Shrape, which Ian pipped us to the win, but a wonderful memory and one I will treasure, especially Andy's agility and strength with all the fast manoeuvres. Champagne sailing!

Farewell to a lovely and kind sailor.

Carron Snagge

Andy’s upper body strength was quite extraordinary. Either hauling himself up, hand over hand, to the jumpers on a dragon to get the spinnaker halyard back. Or simply reaching over me with one enormous hand & forearm to pull in a sheet which I was struggling to get on a winch.

There is also the story of one of his stumps swelling up on a flight to the US, so on arrival he could not get his leg back on. To the astonishment of the cabin and ground staff he did not wait for any help - he simply hopped off the plane, clinging on to his crewmate for balance, carrying the leg under his arm!

Piers Dibben

I never met Andy, but his legend was conveyed to me many years ago by my father who learnt much of his Daring sailing from the infectious master of his craft. I m sorry to hear this news, but very much enjoyed the reminiscences of the class - those of us not to have been on board with him missed out.

David Gower

I recognise all the comments made about Andy. He was an extremely generous sailor happy to share all that he knew. We did 4 Fastnets and several offshore races together with the late, great, Ken Newman. Andy was always cheerful and great company on watch at 02:00 in 50 knots of wind! He did not consider himself to have any disability. Amongst other great qualities I will miss his infectious laugh. He will still be winning races at that great regatta in heaven.

More Reading

Sail on Admiral - by Magnus Wheatley

Andy Cassell - Wikipedia

Andrew Cassell’s Biography – Andrew Cassell Foundation

ISLAND OBITUARY: Andy Cassell – Isle of Wight Observer News