John "Shocking" Shorrock was one of the leading lights in the Bristol Corinthian Merlin fleet in the 1970s, when that fleet was one of the countrys biggest keenest and most successful. As an ex-Enterprise man he was one of the few Merlin men not to deride my own humble gyrations of the pond using blue sails and indeed encouraged me to move up to my first Merlin. He even gave me a spinnaker to replace the huge one the boat came with, which he correctly judged was useless.
I soon found out that John was not a man to be taken advantage of when afloat, and any brave soul trying his luck at a mark rounding or port/starboard crossing would be put straight with a stentorian hail involving Johns best Geordie expletives. So the details of his reaction to his undeserved involvement in a deplorable incident at the notorious Bristol Silver Tiller Dinner is best left to the imagination. (For the uninitiated, Chef Geoff Worsdales ducks, half consumed and generously dosed with sauce a lorange, mysteriously resumed flying, with most unfortunate consequences.)
Of course all après sail was less inhibited in those pre-breathalyser days and the famous Bristol 4 pint jug would do many rounds of the Merlin Corner long after all the other club members were home and fed. Hey ho!
Im awaiting a photo of John from Nigel Appleton who crewed for him in the late 1970s and will post this when it arrives.
My condolences to the family and to John - it was a pleasure and privilege to have sailed and socialised with you, rest in peace.
Dan Alsop
