The Sailing Life of Lindsay Tosh
There is no doubt that Lindsay’s input to the success of sailing in Scotland, not only nationally, but especially here in the south-west is one of the most significant contributions that the sport has seen in recent times.
Lindsay first learnt to sail following Annandale Sailing Club’s Open Day in 1994. He was accompanied by Willie Patterson who subsequently also made major contributions to the sport and became one of his closest friends. Before long Lindsay became a dinghy sailing instructor and subsequently a Senior Instructor. He was a very active member of Annandale Sailing Club (ASC) first of all sailing an Enterprise and subsequently a Solo. He also took his turn as Sailing Secretary and Commodore. He joined the Solway Yacht Club (SYC) where he made major contributions to its activities as well. He greatly enjoyed cruiser sailing with James Copland on Hunca Munca and with Roy Kerr on Happy Cat.
As a qualified RYA dinghy instructor and Senior instructor he went on to teach countless youngsters to sail, both at ASC and SYC, a conservative estimate is that he must have taught more than 1000 young people during his lifetime. There are also records of acts of personal kindness towards individual trainees in time of need.
Apart from the training and club management sides of sailing Lindsay also indulged his sense of fun for special occasions. During 2006 when ASC celebrated its 50th anniversary he and Willie Patterson created a “Viking Ship” from a disused GP14 which they sailed in the anniversary regatta to the great admiration of club members present on the day. On another occasion they converted a powerboat into a “Pirate Ship” complete with a “cannon” which again was great fun and caused much amusement for all of those who saw it in action.
As a Principal Race Officer he not only officiated at SYC’s annual Kippford Week but also at prestigious Scottish National Championships including those for Toppers, GP 14s, Lasers and National 12s. During this time he was a member of the RYA’s Scotland Committee. He also assisted Willie Patterson in the development of the now highly regarded and much respected 5 Castles Inter-schools Regatta which is held annually at Loch Ken.
His IT skills were invaluable to both clubs, particularly in supporting the websites and for sponsoring Zoom committee meetings in times of need. During the pandemic he successfully raised grant money of £10,000 for each club to maintain their activities in this difficult time. His technical skills were also outstanding, especially his knowledge of boat parts and the fitting of them, a skill that was quite unique among club members of the time. In recent years he personally developed and constructed a much clearer SYC race start sign system which has had a major effect on the efficiency and timely management of club racing at Kippford.
Needless to say his efforts did not go un-noticed and in due course he was made an honorary member of both the ASC and the SYC clubs. During 2019 he took on the role of SYC Commodore which he carried out with distinction. In no small measure due to his previous personal input and that of the immediate past Commodore, Ian Purkis, SYC was awarded the 2018 RYA Scotland “Club of the Year”. The pinnacle of recognition came in 2020 when he was awarded the prestigious RYA community award of “Outstanding Contribution to the world of Boating”.
Lindsay’s major input to the sport will be remembered for many years to come. It was with a sense of celebration of his life but also deep respect and affection that a large crowd of SYC and Annandale members joined his family and friends at the Roucan Loch Crematorium to bid farewell to a great man who we will all sorely miss.
Most grateful thanks are given to Willie Patterson for his major contribution to the contents of this article much of which is based on his eulogy to Lindsay as presented at his funeral on September 17th 2024.
Robert Dinwiddie