Roy Barnes was one of those guys who was ever-present at many of the Solo events in the eighties and nineties, father of Mike who was our Magazine Editor before becoming NSCA President, Roy was full of enthusiasm and support for the fleet, his cheerful and no-nonsense pragmatic approach was reflected in Mike’s own persona and these qualities ensured the class flourished. Therefore, we all owe him many thanks. Mike scattered his father’s ashes into Hayling Bay at the Spring Champs, on the start line and just prior to the first race on Sunday morning with the wind blowing a nice force 3 and the Sun high in the sky, a perfect finale to the great man’s life. Will Loy. ROY SIDNEY BARNES Some words from Mike. Dad was born in Poole in Dorset on 31 st December, 1926, to Priscila (Nee Le Rossignal, unfortunately not the Sports brand) and Henry Barnes. Priscila’s family were from Guernsey but can be traced back to the 1600s in France. Dad went to school in Poole, joined the Sea Scouts and was sailing on Poole Park Lake at 5 years old. He then went on to Poole Grammer School. On leaving School he went to work at the Bournemouth Echo, before being called up as an O ffi cer Cadet. Whilst at the Bournemouth Echo he met my Mum. She was singularly unimpressed initially. However Dad’s persistence, a quality he possessed in spades, (or maybe hearts in this case) was rewarded, and the romance started. Dad went on to graduate from Sandhurst as a Captain and joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers where he narrowly missed being posted to Burma by a month and instead ended up in a rather elegant Schloss in Austria keeping the resistance at bay. Living in Parkstone in Poole, Dorset, Dad left the army and joined the Fire Service. In October 1948, I arrived, my deceased brother, Christopher, followed in September 1950 and Michael in Jan 1952. My poor Mum, 37 months between us and all under 3 ¼ . Fireman’s pay was not great, especially with all those little mouths to feed, so Dad supplemented his income by painting and decorating, skills he used to good e ff ect throughout his life. Dad began to do well in the Fire Service was deeply ambitious, highly competitive and regularly promoted. This resulted in a semi-nomadic life as we moved from Poole to Highworth near Swindon, Swindon to Bristol, Bristol to Aldershot, Aldershot to Winchester, Winchester to Chichester, and Chichester to Brentwood in Essex, 8 di ff erent places in fourteen years! He was what these days, you would call “fast tracked”. He retired at age 55 as Chief Fire O ffi cer of Essex, the second biggest risk Brigade behind Greater London, turning down the o ff er of becoming Chief Fire O ffi cer of Greater London, to buy an elegant Gift Shop in Rye in Sussex with my Mum. It was here that Dad really got back into dinghy sailing, particularly A Tribute to the Late Roy Barnes
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