The Shrink in the Drink - perhaps a world first book launch
by Andrew Hill-Smith 18 May 2025 09:00 PDT
Landing at the end of the votage - Andrew Hill-Smith was the third person to sail around GB in a Laser dinghy © Shrink in the Drink
Andrew Hill-Smith, also known as the Shrink in the Drink, was the third person to sail around GB in a Laser dinghy. He was the oldest person to do so, and was totally unsupported. It took 4 half months, and in the process, he raised over £21,000 across three charities. It was an epic adventure, but also lots of fun. His sailing boat was affectionately named HMS Betty, after his mother.
That was in 2023.
The Shrink in the Drink now has a new persona in paper form. A book. The story is captured in elegant prose decorated with pictures, maps and illustrations. Part maritime adventure, part a celebration of coastal life, it weaves together white-knuckle sailing, with chance encounters, and is a joy to read.
The book needed a proper launch. Book events usually involve buildings, and reading, and signing. But this was a sailing adventure, so why not launch the book on the boat? Who's ever heard of that? Could this have been a world first?
Betty's home, Papercourt Sailing Club, was the obvious location, though after that, logistics were complicated.
Books don't like being on the water, or near it, so that was a worry. It needed some protection, at least something that would stop it falling off Betty. The solution was to drop a mini wooden mast into the mast step, and tie the book around that. With a flag on top, the arrangement gave some semblance of a sailing boat. The book was secured.
Next there was the problem of propelling Betty into the water. The idea of a shipyard launch, with champagne smash on the side, sounded good. Sliding off the slipway going forwards might work. However, Betty's super scratched hull had been refinished after the circumnavigation, restored to a nice shiny smooth version. Hence going for a brutal scrapy slide off the concrete would have involved a lot of gritted teeth. No, that wouldn't do.
Perhaps the trusty fender could help? For those not familiar with the transport functions of a fender, it is an essential item for moving an unassisted dinghy up a beach. Or virtually any surface for that matter. Plonk the front of the boat on the fender. Go round to the back. Lift up the stern and wheel the boat forward till the nose touches the ground again. Repeat. Brilliant.
Perched up on the slope, balanced on the fender, a rope was required to stop Betty heading off too early. A highwayman's hitch was just the knot required to allow a slick and single pull, so that Betty and book could smoothly roll into the water. But would it work on the day?
The final touch should be the champagne bottle. In the competition between thick dark green glass bottle, and fibreglass dinghy hull, there was no doubt as to which would win. There was a need for an alternative plan.
A theatre trip to see "Everyman" provided inspiration. Towards the end of the show, in self-flagellating mode, the main protagonist broke a bottle on stage with his shoe, and then stepped on it with his bare foot, making a crunching sound, accompanied by chorus of winces from the audience. "How did he do that?" I asked the stage hand as he was sweeping up afterwards. "Oh, that's theatre glass," he said. So, off I went to 'Breakaway Effects' in West Molesey to pick up my very brittle, and very expensive bottle of champagne. Sorted.
You can watch the full event online, if you were unfortunate enough to miss the in-person occasion. The video is only a couple of minutes, but the main action is near the end. Sorry about that. But it is worth the wait.
And there is also a book to be read, which comes in at extremely good value at something like 100 words for every 1p spent. A gentle immersion in the full adventure, without the need to get wet.
Available on Amazon now.
Enjoy the sailing,
The Shrink in the Drink