WELL-known Cowes author, broadcaster, sail-or and boatbuilder, Steve Sleight, has died aged 64, after a long illness.
Mr Sleight, who died at his home in Britannia Way, East Cowes, had an infectious enthusiasm and passion for the very latest in what he dubbed 'bleedin’ edge’ technologies.
He was born in Bournemouth and lived in London and East Anglia before moving to the Island.
After taking a degree in economics and sociology, he became a yachtmaster instructor and coach at the National Sailing Centre, on the site that is now UKSA, Cowes.
He then wrote the best-selling Handbook of Sailing, which he swiftly followed with a further five titles, as well as producing ITV’s The Boat Show series.
He left the National Sailing Centre to work as a producer and sponsorship consultant to Worldwide Television News, before focusing on the sponsorship field for more than a decade.
He returned to Cowes in the late 1990s to write four more books, including the New Complete Sailing Manual, a title that has sold hundreds of thousands of copies. The venture that perhaps Steve is most famous for is the constant stream of sailing news and many video reports of racing taking place in Cowes and The Solent area he produced with his late partner, Sara Coombes.
At the time, Cowes Online was one of the world’s most visited boating websites, despite the narrow geographical coverage, and the big Cowes TV RIB was a familiar site around the Solent.
Steve was immensely proud of Cowes and its heritage. He was an avid and accomplished sailor, gaining at least one national championship title.
In later years, he focused on boat building, correctly identifying Nick Skeats’s 35 ft steel Wylo II gaff cutter as one that would appeal as a production boat. Sadly, the venture was curtailed by his cancer diagnosis.
His funeral was held on January 19 at the IW Crematorium, Whippingham. He leaves his children, Tanya and Carsten, and grandchildren, Rudi, Leo and Roan.