I bought Snifter, a 1978 Achilles 24 with triple keel and Honda 5hp outboard, sail number 534, in November 2008.

She spent her first 6 months in the boatpark at Thornbury SC at Oldbury on Severn while I worked on her, mainly on the outside (painting the decks and hull, fitting a new sprayhood and dodgers), and doing a bit of work on the inside. I had been racing a Jeanneau Sun 2000 for 2 years (RTIOW and Round Lundy etc), but I sold that on Good Friday 2009 when Snifter was launched and went on the fore and aft mooring in Oldbury Pill, 3 miles or so upstream of the old Severn Bridge.

I sailed singlehanded to Cardiff and back twice in the Sun 2000, and bought Snifter as I want something more suitable for shorthanded sailing when I retired. She also was a useful 'shed' for the winter to keep out of the way of my non sailing wife! I also remembered sailing on my father's A24 in the 70s (Pintail), and a friend lent me his A24 for 2 months in the summer of 2008.

I bought a Tohatsu 3.5hp 2st to use when racing at TSC, and new sails from Crusader. She has a cruising chute as well, but in 2011 I bought a new spinnaker from Crusader. Snifter's big success was to win the PCC Holms Race against 50+ other yachts in 2010.

In 2011 I bought Amrum, an A840, and have spent 18 months bringing her up to scratch with new standing rigging, new sails, a replacement saildrive gaiter, and an engine and saildrive overhaul. Snifter was sold to another TSC member, and Amrum is used for cruising in the Bristol Channel, mainly singlehanded. I bought an Impala in a syndicate in 2014 to get some racing in the winter months, and like the way costs divided by 5 make sailing her feel very good value for money!