Ewen Southby-Tailyour - Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands

In 1978, he was the officer commanding a small Royal Marines detachment that was posted to the Falkland Islands. It was then that on his own initiative he sailed around and extensively charted the waters around the islands, and had a 100+ page notebook filled with data on harbors, inlets, landing spots, etc. It is still to this day the most comprehensive sailing guide for the area. Despite the then Chief Hydrographer of the Royal Navy stating at the time that Southby-Tailyour's work was the "Amateur jottings of an itinerent yachtsman and of no value to this department" this work and his personal knowledge of the area would later prove highly valuable in the Falklands War. In 1982 he was voted the United Kingdom's Yachtsman of the Year.