Farewell To Mike

It was with great sadness to announce that on May 2nd our Vice President, Mike Parkin passed away.

Unfortunately, Covid restrictions intervened which meant only a very few Members were able to attend. However, the Club was given the huge honour to attend his funeral and to offer a tribute to Mike and his contribution to the sport of disabled sailing and to the Club.

Below are some extracts from the tribute given at the lovely service which was a celebration of his life.
Mikes journey into sailing did not begin at Carsington. 

In fact, his main legacy to sailing occurred well before, in the late eighties. 

Born in 1938, Mike began sailing when he was in his twenties. It was a huge part of his life and was his respite from the confines of his wheelchair.

In the eighties the facilities for disabled sailors both in terms of boats and facilities at Sailing Clubs were poor to non-existent. Mike and his very close friend Terry Willett decided, along with some other inspired individuals, to establish a Club for disabled sailors.  And so it was that in the late 80s, Sailability was born. Initially this was made up of 12 Sunbird dinghy sailors who travelled to events at venues the length and breadth of the country.  This was colloquially known as the Sunbird circuit. 
Mick and Lyn Athey, who occasionally went along to help out, remarked that these were good times, full of fun, lots of laughs and not unexpectedly, some really dark humour!!!!!
Whilst this was going on, behind the scenes the Royal Yachting Association began to take an interest in Sailability, and eventually adopted it as part of their national movement for disabled sailors. 

Mike along with some other founding members were invited to sit on the RYA Sailability National Executive to advise and help develop RYA disability policy. It would not be overstating the case that Mike and this group of friends must take huge credit as being a key part of the development of the RYA Sailability movement which is now active across the whole of the UK and well beyond.

Just after the Club opened Mike and Sue paid a visit, and in 1993 they became Members of the newly formed Club. Mikes 28 year association with Carsington Sailing Club had begun.

As these were pre the concrete jetty and hoist days, it led to creative solutions to the inevitable difficulties that were encountered. I invite you to picture a group of volunteers trying to find the best way to insert a 6 foot 3 inch, 13 stone man into a toothpick of a boat, to see him sail off with a wave into the distance, cigar clenched firmly in his teeth and then having to find ways extricate him when he returned. These were indeed fun and hilarious times, with Mike in the thick of it.

Already at Carsington was another inspirational disabled sailor, Derek Lee. Little did we know at the time, but the friendship they struck up was to be the beginning of an unholy alliance between the pair.

In 1995, Mike let his guard down for a moment only to find he had been elected to the Club Management Committee where he spent 4 years as Honorary Treasurer.
Mike and Derek, who had been elected as Commodore in 1996, developed a fearsome reputation, for their careful management and protection of Club funds. They were fondly referred to as Batman and Robin. 

Even in these difficult Covid times the Club continues to benefit from those early years of careful financial management.

In 1999 Mike decided it was time for a well deserved more peaceful existence. In appreciation for his huge contribution to both the Club and Disabled Sailing, Mike was elected by the Club Members to be Vice President in 2000.

Although he did not sail in recent years, Mike was regularly to be found visiting the Club on Wednesdays and Saturdays, socializing with and encouraging the ever-growing Sailability group. More than that, he would always make a point of circulating around the Club room, chatting to all and sundry and taking a huge interest in everything that they were up to.
Modest, wise, a true gentleman, an inspiration to others, a great listener, a lovely sense of humour are but a few of a long list of compliments paid to Mike by Members.

We at Carsington will miss Mike sorely and our thoughts are very much with his wife Sue and both their families.