Anthony Lunch 1945-2022

Anthony Lunch was born on 13 February 1945. He learnt to sail, aged 10, at Chipstead Sailing Club, moving on to that hotbed of sailing talent, Sevenoaks School. Of this time, Anthony said: ‘Before long I was a very junior member of the Sevenoaks team and from then on my abilities improved and my love of team racing was fuelled by exciting fixtures and senior boys’ expert tuition. All this culminated in the Public Schools Championships when we were lucky enough to win and bring home a new Firefly to join the school fleet. In all my years of racing, this remains one of the highlights!’

After Sevenoaks, Anthony spent 12 months doing Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) as a teacher in The Gambia, then read Geography at Mansfield College, Oxford to. He became involved in the Oxford University Yacht Club (OUYC), sailing in and winning the Varsity Match in all his three years – the final one as Captain and Vice- Commodore. In his final year, he represented the British Universities in their tour of the United States, where he met Martine. They are reported to have made a dashing couple and their long-lasting union was a constant in the rest of his life.

Anthony joined Unilever as a graduate trainee, then became Managing Director of Phildar UK before his entrepreneurial drive led him to start a number of ventures. In 1990 he founded the Sermathang Project in Nepal to educate hundreds of children in the Helambu area, and built a new school in 1995, and in 2000 he founded the volunteering organisation MondoChallenge, and subsequently the MondoChallenge Foundation.

Anthony returned to OUYC as Commodore in 1979, becoming Vice President in 1985 and President from 2001-18. When he stepped down, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the RYA, presented by Princess Anne.

Our thoughts are with Martine, his children Chris, Nick and Cecilia and their families who have lost a loving husband, father and grandfather.

Nick Lunch