The great Clayton Love Jnr was suitably honoured at his death - aged 94 - with many tributes, including this appreciation in Afloat.ie on 9th March 2024. But with every passing day since, the increasing awareness of the enormous contribution he made in many important areas of Irish life – both on sea and land – has shown the breadth and depth of his contribution, and on Saturday night (October 19th) Admiral Annamarie Fegan of the Royal Cork YC in Crosshaven hosted a well-attended maritime dinner in honour of his memory, and to accept a model of his last boat.
While his interests were many, the last of his several boats was special, as this was the 1898-built Fife-designed Cork Harbour One Design Jap. He had thought for some years of rounding out his sailing career by adding another restored boat to the growing fleet of "better than new" CHODs in Cork Harbour. But it wasn't until Jap was discovered in 1994, laid up on the foreshore in a converted but now tired state in the upper reaches of Falmouth Harbour in Cornwall, that he had what was required to set the project in motion.
Jap as she was in 1994, discovered thirty years ago near Truro on the shores of Falmouth Harbour in Cornwall. Photo: W M Nixon
Jap was very soon in the expert hands of Duncan Walker of Fairlie Restorations on the Hamble, who was nearing the end of his distinguished career as a superb restorer/re-builder of classic Fife yachts. But the Jap project helped close it on a happy note, as he recalled that Jap's new owner was the pleasantest customer he'd ever had to deal with.
MEDITERRANEAN SUCCESS
The good mood around this meticulous job was further augmented by classic sailmaker and international helm Andy Cassells of Ratsey & Lapthorne, who declared that the restored Jap was one of the pleasantest and best-mannered boats he'd ever sailed. And in several seasons on the Mediterranean circuit with Clayton Love's longtime shipmate Donal McClement as boat manager, Jap was to win many major classic awards and trophies.
The restored Jap under spinnaker during her successful years on the Mediterranean Classic Circuit, with (inset) Clayton Love Jnr very content on the helm. Photo: RCYC
Finally she returned to Crosshaven, gifted to the Royal Cork Yacht Club in whose hands – with Harold Cudmore at the helm – Jap continued her winning ways including the overall victory at Les Voiles de St Tropez, while Clayton Love progressed serenely to the evening of his days.
Yet though his many achievements in the maritime and business sphere were known and widely appreciated, it was only after his death and the publication of a memorial book that the wider world became more fully aware of the sheer breadth of his quiet but effective influence.
Back where she belongs. Jap in the custodianship of the Royal Cork YC in 1922, sailing in Cork Harbour off Blackrock Castle within easy distance of Carrigaloe where she was built in 1898. Photo: Robert Bateman
BUSY BACKGROUND POLITICAL ROLE
Modern Ireland being what it is, he took a highly intelligent and positive interest in politics. Yet it was very much in the background, and it wasn't until the book came out with some historic photos that it was realised that—as President of Cork Chamber of Commerce in 1979-80—Clayton Love Jnr persuaded leading figures in the then barely formed Peace Process to gather in Cork for meetings that succeeded in quietly but efficiently moving things forward.
The effective power broker and negotiator. Clayton Love Jnr (third from right at front) as President of Cork Chamber of Commerce in 1980, welcoming top peace negotiators such as northern politican Seamus Mallon (left), Foreign Minister Peter Barry (second left) and British Secretary of State Tom King (front group, sixth from left)
Then even when he was no longer President, his contacts increased as his leading role in the RNLI facilitated useful meetings at the highest level, and in the 1990s he was regularly in contact and conference with the British Ambassador to Ireland.
With Veronica Sutherland, British Ambassador to Ireland 1995-1999
But this quiet exercising of a very useful realpolitik approach to the realities of Irish-British relations in a difficult time were very much in the background at Saturday night's dinner with its strongly nautical flavour, with many members of the Royal Cork meeting in warmest friendship to accept the model of Jap and celebrate the memory of one of Ireland's truly great men, whether on land or sea.
"A busy ship is a happy ship". The Royal Cork YC'sJap in action in Volvo Cork Week 2024 with Chris Bateman on the helm. Photo: Con Murphy
