Last year the BBC showed a series of programmes in which Griff Rys Jones firstly raced his classic yacht off Cowes then offered a more revealing glimpse of Griff as he struggled to manage the anger that all too often over-powers him when under the stress of race conditions.Yesterday the Beeb broadcast the first of a two parter, Three men in more than one boat, in which the same companions of Dara O Briain and Rory McGrath try to make their way from Plymouth to the Isles of Scilly. This time Griff wasn't in charge and so was more relaxed, even benign.
It was pleasant watching as they tried Rory's fishing boat, a modern Princess, rowing boat, and the lovely traditional craft above.
Of course you couldn't help but wonder about how artificial it probably was - something like this with neat connections at each port can only be planned well in advance.
And another downer (for me) was in the second half they will just happen to get a lift in the Open 60 Artemis - a day sail on which was one of the items in the Independent newspapers charity auction of the year and I narrowly lost out, loosing in the last second :(
Also on TV during the week was a one hour documentary about the last Clipper round the world race. The voice over was none other than Robin Knox-Johnson himself, though it must be admitted its not really his forte, as his intonation rarely varied.
A good sounding voice - even without a star name - would have helped, and you can see why they are worth a lot on TV and radio.
