Obituary
Andrew David Tyler died in the Bristol Heart Institute on Sunday March 13th 2011 aged 57 following complications resulting from a Traumatic Aortic Rupture. Andy was brought up and educated in the W. Midlands. After leaving Warwick School with 4 straight ‘A’s at A level he went on to Reading University where he studied property management, and later become a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
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Andy was a person of great energy and imagination, having more creative ideas in a week than most people have in several years. His enthusiasm for sailing was apparent from a very young age, he and his sister learning together, with Ivan Pawson in his Burnham, sailing out of Percuil. Graduating from Mirror dinghies to Enterprises with the occasional outing in a Flying Fifteen Andy eventually fulfilled one of his enduring ambitions to crew a Sunbeam. Early years in boats were all centred around St Mawes and the Carrick Roads. Frequent capsizes and floundering around with much laughter and swearing were hallmarks of those halcyon days. Andy and his sister Alison enjoyed an idyllic childhood and adolescence, which only ended when their father died suddenly, aged just 50, leaving both brother and sister stunned and somewhat unprepared for adult life without paternal support.
As a young surveyor Andy worked for Grimley`s in Birmingham before joining Weatherall Green & Smith. Two years later he moved on to Tarmac Properties Southern Ltd as a very young director, and property developer. He was responsible for several prestigious developments in London, but was most proud of his work in Bedford Square near the British Museum.
Following a couple of seasons trying to sink a Merlin Rocket, acquisition of a St Mawes One Design in 1978 heralded a hitherto unbridled burst of enthusiasm for one design racing. Owners of OD`s were treated by Andy as the elite of the sailing world, winkled out of hibernation and drummed into assisting the revival of the class. “Come on you Guys, Paint it, launch it, race it” were the rallying phrases in his campaign. Expense never remotely troubled him, either you launched your boat and raced it or you moved over and let someone else do it. Results came quickly by the spring of 1980 no fewer than 22 OD`s were quite regularly crossing the St Mawes SC club start line. This success was replicated over the next 10 years with the construction of a further 12 new boats by Jonathon Leach. Andy sustained his enthusiasm throughout, collecting a few trophies on the way but infinitely more friends and fans all of whom revelled in the unique camaraderie he created.
An impressive and often extravagant lifestyle hit the buffers when in 1985 his directorship of Tarmac Properties Southern Ltd came to an end. Resulting from his battle for planning permission in Witney, legal precedent was subsequently determined in the House of Lords and became essential reading for all student surveyors.
Almost without drawing breath he launched into his new, occasionally bumpy career running pubs, never again to enjoy the trappings of life as a director of a public Ltd company.
Quite undaunted his faltering income was meagerly supplemented by writing sailing articles for the West Briton, a role he committed to, for a further 7 years publishing in excess of 350 articles, around 210,000 words on his favourite subject sailing. He only occasionally strayed into less familiar political waters to the dismay and consternation of a few. This flexible journalistic style soon came to be regarded as quirky rather than malicious.
Working in a pub had clear advantages when it came to fund raising. An idea hatched by Andy, David Mathewson and Glenn Litherland to form a syndicate and purchase a Falmouth Working boat met with immediate support. Regulars at the Roseland Inn, Philleigh were no match for Andy`s exceptional and sometimes alarming fund raising skills, parting with their money with a smile and a “well done Andy.” So, the Roseland Working boat Syndicate was duly formed and became the proud owner of EVELYN a Falmouth Working Boat, David and Glenn were by this time relegated to the shadows, frantically drafting a set of syndicate rules that would facilitate enjoyment for all but still keep them free men.
Moving on to St Mawes Sailing Club where fresh fertile fund raising grounds awaited, Andy repeated the Evelyn experience and raised around £15000 to acquire The Florence, this time completely unaided by previous cohorts. To this day, the sailing club rocks with laughter remembering his outrageous antics and frequent scrapes with “The Committee”.
The Chainlocker in Falmouth followed by The City Inn Truro, and finally The Green Room Redruth, all benefited from his irrepressible bonhomie. Never far from a crisis or an argument regulars were captivated by his lack of guile and boundless enthusiasm.
Peter Collett Commodore of the RCYC recalls the time 3 years ago when Andy came hammering on their door regaling them with his idea to bring The Finn Gold Cup to Falmouth. His vision for this pre Olympic event persuaded the authorities to launch a bid. As a result of Andy’s initiative RCYC will host a 2 week Finn Festival incorporating the Finn Gold cup in Aug 2012
Disdain for personal finance guaranteed Andy a frugal existence in latter years, in contrast to his formative years when, as a company director, Ascot, Henley, Twickenham, Cheltenham, Arc de Triomphe, Super bowl, Americas Cup were all included in his essential itinerary of sporting events. A world tour in the late 80`s made a near terminal dent in his now rapidly dwindling resources. His full on lifestyle was both impressive and short lived, the flip side being an occasional need to rely on his dearest friends to keep a roof over his head.
Gail Dingle and her two children Jenna and Andrew, for 7 years, provided Andy with the one thing he craved more than anything, all his adult life, contentment and a loving home. Andrew is survived by his sister the Reverend Alison Tyler.
