The story begins around late 1969. Mike had a great love of driving and believed one was never too young to get started. Which is how I found myself at the wheel, driving down to his parents house for Sunday dinner, at the age of 2. Mike was working the pedals. It was a short journey, but very exciting for a 2 year old.  It set the tone for the next 50 years.

In about the 15 or so years of sailing with Mike, on 3 different types of catamaran, my favourite race was the final of the Swift National Championships at Rutland Water.

We started disastrously and everything that could go wrong did go wrong, leaving us at the back of the fleet. As we completed the first lap, we spotted that on the far side of the course the wind had begun to pick up. All the other boats were tacking multiple times in the centre of the course, so we decided to try going out to the extreme edge and make just one tack. It worked out fabulously and 2 laps later we were in the lead and won the race.

When racing in the Solent on one very foggy day, an oil tanker suddenly appeared in front of us. Despite having the right of way, we rapidly concluded that power was not going to yield to sail and steered around its stern. It turns out the wake behind oil tankers creates very high waves!

Other trying situations included;
-    having the mast fall down about 200 yards from the finish,
–     a sudden thunderstorm in Lake Como, which led us to question the wisdom of being on a lake with a 28 foot metal mast in the air  with  lightning strikes imminent.
–     then there was the time I looked around to discover Mike had fallen overboard.

Once when racing in Anglesey the wind was so strong that only a third of the fleet finished. The only way to stay upright down wind was to let the sails right out with both of us right at the back of the boat, and even then the hull was very close to nose diving and catapulting us over.

My favourite trip with just Mike was the Dart European championship in Marseille in the late 1980s. The setting, wind and weather were perfect the whole week. They had a swimming pool, a huge table with fruit and a martini bar at the end of each day. In the evenings we would go to the Vieux port for a meal.

Through everything I was always impressed by how calm and composed Mike always remained. Whatever potential disasters he faced, nothing ever seemed to phase him.

Even from when I was very young we would always talk through every decision on the water together, and we followed this same collaboration process for life.

Mike had a passion for cars and speed which in the mid 1980s led to us trying out Formula 1. We went to Silverstone and we watched the race from the fastest part of the circuit. We were surprised to find only a small wooden fence separating us from the cars going by at 190mph only about 30 yards away. We decided it was probably safe enough and had a great time. The next time we went, there was a high metal fence installed and spectators were now 60 yards from the action.

We later went to the F1 race in Indianapolis in the early 2000s a couple of times when I was living in America. Mike never seemed to need much of a reason to travel.

Mike turned out to be a remarkably accomplished legal eagle in dealing with some nefarious elements in the 2000s.

In later years he came frequently to visit me in Bucharest. I showed him the city and as we ate at my favourite restaurants, we often talked about his father’s business in the 1960s. Mike was very proud of his father and got unusually emotional talking about his dad’s progression through the ranks during the war, and how he chose to leave what was by then a good career in the forces when the war ended, to start his own business.

On a lighter note it became clear that his interest in popular culture largely ended with the break up of the Beatles.

At the end, even as his body was failing his mind was as sharp as ever so we could communicate as normal right to the  very last.

To me, Mike was my most wonderful friend and constant source of encouragement and support.