Better known as The Who’s lead guitarist and principal songwriter, rock star and celebrity superyacht owner Pete Townsend has also had a life-long affair with sailing and owned almost as many boats as he has musical instruments.
Tucked into the corner of the saloon on his 38.4 metre classic sailing yacht Gloria, Pete Townshend is reeling off a rock anecdote because I’m trawling for one. He has been charitable enough to dip into a 50-year cache of stories that begin in this format – replace Moon and Reed with Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton or any member of rock aristocracy – and toss me a tale of yacht-related debauchery.