Antony Edwards – Inducted 2013

Antony’s untroubled early years in a landlocked north London suburb were abruptly interrupted by wartime evacuation to Cornwall’s southernmost Lizard Peninsula. There his possession of a canvas covered kayak, paddled to destruction in the sheltered Channel waters and trolling for mackerel in a fisherman’s son’s wooden rowboat created a lifelong affinity for the sea.

Ownership of a series of small outboard power boats started soon after his 1958 arrival in Trinidad and the 1972 sale of his father-in-law’s St. Ignatius Bay Gasparee Island house triggered the search for another outlet for his love of sea activities.  Second hand purchase of Trinidad’s first ever locally assembled Mirror dinghy and enrolment in that adult sail training course led to competition in the fiercely contested dinghy races, against stalwarts such as Allan King, Frankie Mayers, Peter Ash, Geoff Clarke, John Knox and James and Jennifer Arrindell as well as many others, with the mirror followed by a Kingfish, a fibreglass GP14, two Lasers and the one and only “Drascombe Lugger”.

In 1982, Antony was elected to the Management Committee as Secretary, having already chaired the Dinghy Committee and a decade of involvement in the management of the summer sail training courses for juniors and adults, resulted in the many hours of work preparing and maintaining Mirrors, Expresses and other dinghies for the classes run by our then imported Canadian Coaches. In the 31 years of his tenure on the Committees, Antony has served under nearly a dozen presidents, most of whom were in office for two or more continuous or separate terms, and worked with fifteen Managers. His knowledge of the Association’s affairs has been of value to his fellow Officers and Committee members as well as staff and visitors.