Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath flew from Ottawa in Canada to Cowes on the Isle of Wight to take part in the Fastnet Race 50 years ago today.
Heath had been attending the Commonwealth Conference in the Canadian capital. He left Ottawa at 05:00 (Canadian time) and was transported by a RAF VC10 to Thorney Island near Portsmouth. His aircraft landing was only 2 hours before the start of the race.
From Thorney Island, Heath was taken by a naval hovercraft to the British Hovercraft Corporation works in East Cowes (Columbine Yard), from where a fast launch whisked him to his yacht – Morning Cloud – moored in Cowes.
Heath had spent £45,000 (nearly £500,000 pounds in today’s values) on Morning Cloud to take on the Americans in the Admiral’s Cup. The Fastnet Race is 1 one of the most gruelling in the world: 4 days in which the crew can expect very little rest or sleep.
The nautical Prime Minister faced some tough questioning on his arrival back in the UK, which was then facing possible petrol rationing during the oil crisis of the early 70s.
Reported in Isle of Wight Mercury 10th August 1973.
So he didn’t fly to Cowes then….
Hope he paid and not the tax payer or put it down on expenses!
An odd man with many dodgy stories circulating over the years …
Thereby hangs many a tale ?
Due to his position the truth will never come out.
There is not a lot that I like about Edward Heath, but if he had won it would have been a major political coup for the UK. So with the 20:20 hindsight of 50 years, we look at it and think it was a bad idea, but then this was a splendid demonstration for the UK to show a “Can do” attitude.
⁹It was typically an abuse of privilege which is now the norm for any Tory minister or MP.
Another dodgy Conservative !!
Edward Heath was a nonce, covered up by powerful members of the establishment, and a friend of Jimmy Saville, both of whom Thatcher gave Knighthoods to, knowing the fact
The idiot who put us in the EEC and sold British industry down the toilet. Welcome to the seventies, courtesy of Mr Heath the grotty yachty.
I like many others could not stand this overblown Pratt of an MP who lived in another world to the one he was supposed to be representing .
One look into those evil eyes speaks volumes.