LATEST NEWS

More news here

Folkboat National President - Robin Walters

It is with great regret and much sadness that I have to inform the membership that the Folkboat National President, Robin Walters passed away on Tuesday 21st August.

Christine Hartley-Webster gave the following tribute to Robin at the Folkboat Week dinner.

A Tribute to Robin.

Robin, our Folkboat National President, passed away on Tuesday 21st August with his family by his side. His son James and daughter-in-law Penny had been racing in Folkboat Week on Eala with Alistair Maclean, but abandoned the week to be with him.

It was of course very poignant and somehow appropriate that Robin should pass away during Folkboat Week, which he loved, but it was even more heartbreaking to know that it was his and Pauline’s 28th Wedding anniversary that very day. It was during Folkboat Week 1990 that they quietly slipped away to get married.

Robin had a passion for Folkboats and raced his wood classic boat Piasano in Cowes Week and around the Solent in the early 60s with the Husband boats, Tomic, and Blue Mist also others including Jack Riddle’s Svane . Blue Mist and Svane are racing this week. In the summer of 1965 Cowes Week refused to give Folkboats their own start so Robin and Tom Husband decided to move the event to Yarmouth to hold Folkboat Week at the RSYC. We have had an excellent and harmonious relationship with the club ever since.

Robin initiated ‘Folkboat UK’ in 1984 with Peter Nuding to facilitate importation of fibreglass Nordic Folkboats and they imported Strider, Cidron and Larkspur that year and Columbine the following year. The name of Robin’s own FB, Cidron, is formed from the letters Nordic in reverse!

As South Coast Area Chairman, Robin ran Folkboat Week for almost 50 years and worked closely with Bernard Turner for over 30 years planning and running it together. Although passionate about one design Nordic racing he always had a soft spot for the British Cruiser Classics and would include them in every event.

To increase the fleet, Robin kept an eye out for any abandoned boats and we remember his excitement finding an old wooden wreck near the Elephant boatyard which he restored, fitting a fibreglass deck, naming her ‘White Elephant’

Robin was a successful business man heading Walcon Marine. You will see his pontoons in Marinas around the world and every year they form the Southampton Boat Show.

He introduced ‘The Walcon Cup’, a team racing event, and invited his contacts from around the world to take part. Participants included Eric Andreasen, the Danish Folkboat builder and even a ‘United Arab Emirates’ team. He towed pontoons to Bouldnor Bay, anchored and rafted them, provided a bar, heads and seating for comfortable viewing. I was the bar maid at that event! Eric, of course, won and still holds the Trophy.

Although Robin has been ill for many years, it was wonderful to see him attend the 50th celebrations of Folkboat Week at Yarmouth in 2015, where he sailed Cidron with Pauline and John Tufnell. After a cracking start in one of the races, they went hard aground and Pauline bravely jumped overboard to try and push Cidron off.

At the celebration dinner, a 50th Anniversary plaque was unveiled in his honour at the RSYC.

We not only remember Robin’s passion, his vibrant personality, his warmth but also his shaggy dog stories and parrot jokes, which I couldn’t possible repeat. They invariably went wrong, causing great hilarity.

Robin- Mr Folkboat- Walters, we will always remember you with affection and gratitude for everything you have done for the Folkboat and Folkboat Week.

Christine Hartley Webster