Gordon Dear, President of the Skiff Racing Association (SRA) and of The Skiff Club, based in Teddington celebrated his eightieth birthday on Tuesday with a special outing on the Thames.

Gordon, of Anglesea Road, Kingston, has been messing about in boats for almost 70 years and is a well known figure of many clubs based in South West London and Surrey.

He started rowing in 1936 at Emanuel School when he was 13 years old and it has been his passion ever since. He is President of the Skiff Racing Association (SRA) and of The Skiff Club, based in Teddington. He is also President of the Dacre Boat Club for ex-pupils and parents of Emanuel School and a past President of Old Emanuel RFC.

Gordon attends all the club events and regattas and is known for his mischievous and dry sense of humour.

Tuesday's party was a surprise, organised in secret by the members of the SRA and The Skiff Club. A friend drove Gordon to Thames Valley Skiff Club near Walton, where he was met by a small party before being skiffed down river to Ditton's Skiff and Punting Club and then on to the Skiff Club, Teddington.

Conditions on the river were calm and fair' and Gordon was able to sit back and relax while others did the rowing.

Friends from Walton and Ditton followed in separate boats, forming a flotilla by the time they reached Teddington. As a mark of respect he was piped ashore by a traditional bosun's call' and honoured with an arch of blades.

Supper, cake and champagne followed and the celebrations went on until midnight. Gordon admits to being slightly inebriated' and very happy' at the end of an excellent day'. He was overwhelmed' by the kindness of the many friends and well-wishers who turned out.

Gordon was in the navy from November 1943 to November 1946 and worked as a radar officer. He served on H.M.S Scylla, the flagship of the Eastern Naval Task Force for the D-Day landings, which was mined off the Normandy coast. He completed a couple of operations on HMS Implacable, the aircraft carrier, and was then transferred to the battle' class destroyer HMS Finisterre, leaving as a Lieutenant.

Gordon is a life member of Thames Rowing Club, based on the Putney embankment, which he joined in 1947, after leaving the navy.

Thames is one of three grand British rowing clubs, the others being Leander and London, and is currently the biggest and most successful rowing club in the UK.

One of Gordon's finest hours, representing Thames, was winning the Wyfolds Fours at the Henley Regatta in 1955, an unexpected win from a four that had been plagued by illness in the run up to the competition.

In 1956, to assist the selectors in choosing a crew for the Olympics, Thames entered two crews in the Stewards' Fours at Henley.

The Henley Stewards insisted that the second, unofficial crew should be entered privately and would not use the club colours. The second crew, in which Gordon rowed, took its name from its stroke man and competed as RAF Macmillan's crew'. Unfortunately, the two Thames crews met in the first round, and had a very close race, the first crew beating Macmillan's by three feet before going on to take the trophy.

Gordon went on to be a spare man' for the England team in the 1958 Commonwealth Games, held in Padarn, North Wales, and was made Captain of Thames Rowing Club in 1967. As a racing punter he won seven club championships at Ditton.

He continues to teach punting at The Skiff Club, displaying a remarkable nimbleness and balance for a man of his years. Gordon still rows twice a week, usually on Tuesday evening and Sunday morning.

Last year Gordon took part in the Meander, skiffing from St. John's Lock at Lechlade, the highest navigable point of the Thames, to Teddington, over four days. Liz James, the Vice Captain (Social) of The Skiff Club, jokes that with his white beard he bears an uncanny likeness to the famous statue of Old Father Thames at Lechlade.

May 30, 2003 10:30