Peter – who was a past President of the PYA – passed away on Wednesday 18th of September 2024. He was an extremely well-respected Captain, who spent the majority of his yachting career here in Antibes, his last role being as Skipper of Kingdom 5-KR.
He was a gentle, fair and creative soul, who turned up at college with a skateboard of his own making, fashioned from a pair of roller-skates screwed onto a plank of wood, to “practice his surfing” back in the early 70’s (his classmates had never seen such a thing before at that time!). He met Joëlle in England, an exotic French assistant, who paved the way for him to move to France and eventually start his long career on yachts. He started scrubbing the decks on the yacht Malahne in 1976 and worked his way up to be the beloved Captain we all knew. He worked hard, always looking out for the wellbeing of his crew, as well as doing his best for his bosses.
He and Joëlle filled their family life with exciting trips and adventures, big and small, from camping in the home garden or in the Mercantour, to sailing in the Caribbean, going on African safaris, or climbing up Mount Kilimanjaro, to make up for the summers he spent at sea, away from the family home. He was always seeking time in nature, with an amazing ability and keen eye for identifying the birds flying high above, which he loved to do. He was brave in the face of his Parkinson’s diagnosis; always patient, with a gentle smile on his face and a cheeky twinkle in his eye. Right until the end, he dug deep, even finding the strength to build his grandchildren a hut in the garden with Jo this summer. He will be sorely missed by his family and the loyal friends that he made over the years, as well as by those who worked under his kind leadership in the yachting community.
Peter’s contributions to the PYA
Peter was an exemplar in giving back to yachting what yachting had given to him. At a critical moment in the industry’s post-War history, when new international legislation threatened the take-over of commercial yachting by Merchant Navy officers, Peter became a founding member of the PYA. Peter and his co-founders had the foresight and diligence to approach the MCA regarding the special nature of yachting. They were persuasive in delivering their message, and contributed their experience towards the MCA‘s creation of the Master 3000 Yacht CoC (and later the Chief Engineer Yacht CoC) which became the bedrock of professional training for yacht officers. Peter continued to give his time and expertise to the PYA as a Council member while further legislative developments drove yachting to higher professional standards. He was serving as President of the PYA at another critical juncture when the ILO‘s Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC) was entered into international law. This legislation was written for commercial shipping, without any consultation with the yachting sector. As a matter of extreme urgency, with implementation date only two years away, Peter initiated a PYA work group which again persuaded the ILO, Nautilus and the MCA, of the special nature of yacht construction, and the impossibility of to-the-letter compliance with MLC. Peter followed that work group’s progress in working with the MCA and other stakeholders to develop the MLC-compliant Large Yacht Code (now the REG Code). In his typically quiet way, Peter made some significant contributions to the evolution of the yachting industry as we know it today.
Captain Peter Evans, from your old shipmates and colleagues, Goodnight, God Bless.
His family are organising a commemorative afternoon for close friends and family at the IYCA in Antibes on Saturday 26th of October. If you would like to attend, please click here to let his family know by Monday 14th of October at the latest.
