It with great regret that we report the death of Richard Thompson (Selwyn 1961). Richard was a great supporter of the club, regularly returning to umpire at many Cam Cups and Varsity matches, as well as other adhoc events. He was also a huge supporter of team racing and sailing in general, serving as principal officer of the UK Team Racing Association until 2022 and he had previously chaired both the Team Racing Working Party and Racing Rules Working Party at World Sailing. He was a huge driver behind the modern team racing rule book – there isn’t a rule in Appendix D that wasn’t thoroughly scrutinised and challenged by him in a way only a Cambridge lawyer could. Richard received a RYA volunteer award from the Princess Royal in 2021. The RYA have written a tribute on their website.
A service of thanksgiving will be held in St Mary’s Church, High Street, Fairford, Gloucestershire, GL7 4AF on 21 March at 2pm. The service will be followed by refreshments in the church rooms opposite.
