To say the untimely passing on 24th April of Ayrshire's Alistair 'Storky' McLaughlin, 64, has robbed only the north of Britain of a truly outstanding sailing talent would be to underrepresent the dozens of regattas and championships he won. From a young age, he travelled the length and breadth of the country to triumph in dozens of fast, small boat classes.
Storky's whole life was focused on sailing. He always loved dinghies and small keelboats, and for a significant period, windsurfing. He grew up sailing off his native Troon, initially crewing from 1970 as a 10-year-old on 5378, then a famous winning boat, Spook, with his dad. But an innate talent was matched by a feel and focus for making a boat go fast that few of his generation possessed. He won the Scottish Youth Championships in the 420 with Duke Darge and went to the IYRU Youth Worlds in 1977 in Quiberon, France, working under the wing of the legendary Jim Saltonstall; he recalls finishing in the top 10 of 32 nations racing. Scottish crews, including Storky, took two of the top three places at the Youth Nationals on the South Coast of England the following week.
In the early 1980s, along with many of his contemporaries, he turned his back on dinghy sailing and the Div 2 windsurfing race courses, which had proven very successful. He was very instrumental in the development of the D2S Div 2 board, which was designed and built by local engineer Norman McMillan. He won the Scottish Championship on the version 5 board up against the best production boards of the day.
Racing out of Troon he moved to small keelboats. Usually, he cleaned up, after a Micro 18 mini tonner, he cleaned up locally and at Scottish Series on his First Class 8 Kaos, never missing a winter Sunday, but sailed J/24s and occasionally guested on the Jeanneau One Design Wencarla and various other cruiser racers. I had the pleasure and privilege of sailing many freezing winter Sundays with him and his own motley crew.
But over time, he moved back to fast dinghies and sailed just about everything, including a 49er, then an early adopter of the foiling Moth, followed by the Hornet, Flying Dutchman, D Zero, 505, B14, and Musto Skiff. He could turn his hand to any class and win trophies quickly. With a successful TV aerial business in Ayrshire, his indulgence was quick dinghies and fast motor bikes.
He moved into the RS300 around 2014, winning locally but and then at national level. The class notes he "Started to shine in the top ten three years later. In 2019, against Steve Bolland, Steve Cockerell and Steve Sallis, he won the RS300 Nationals." Their note on Storky continues. "He won the UK Flying Dutchman Nationals (with Mark Taylor) and had been runner up at D-Zero Nationals in 2019 against Mr Bolland. Stork said at the time……. "that was a bit of fun that one, I turned up as an unknown and unranked player, with a boat I'd bought the week before and had sailed once and set about upsetting the form book with Steve, we both sailed RS Style with loads of kicker and between us owned the pin! ….. who are these RS300 guys, where'd they come from! ….. Steve and I ended up on 14 and 15 points, 10 points ahead of 3rd ….. if you can sail an RS300 …… you can sail anything."
Storky may have been something of a local legend in his time, but he quietly cherished spreading his wings nationwide and troubling the upper echelons of regattas, travellers and championship fleets. For a talented tradesman who was happy to work at heights on roofs around the west of Scotland you would struggle to find a more down to earth, humble sailor.
He quietly and systematically brought dozens of youngster and older total beginners into the sport, teaching by doing. Self-deprecating with a sardonic wit, he will be sadly missed. Condolences to his family, especially his sister Joyce, his son Scott and his daughter.
