The Bury Lake Young Mariners have just been shortlisted for one of the most prestigious awards in British sailing, and I hope they win.

This is a fabulous institution. The club, known to just about everyone as BLYM, has introduced thousands upon thousands of people to sailing, with tuition, encouragement and facilities.

It’s the absolute opposite of the image you might have of a yacht club - there are no glasses of gin and tonic or starched white shirts at BLYM, just enthusiastic volunteers, squeals of pleasure and the faint smell of wet life-jackets drying off.

Sailing is one of those sports you might write off as dreary and elitist until the moment you try it out. Then you realise it’s fun, demanding, often exhilarating and utterly engrossing. Like skiing or mountain-climbing, it has the benefit that it demands your full attention, so it provides a great escape from real life. And children love sailing.

They get to brave the elements and master the wind, steer their own vessel and face a decent challenge, all the while under the eye of an instructor.

And if it all goes wrong, the worst that can really happen is they end up in the drink, bobbing around in the Aquadrome and being gawped at by geese and swans.

BLYM has been shortlisted for the award largely on the back of the work it does with the community in and around Rickmansworth. Having been involved in a few activities down there (as dogsbody, not expert), I’ll second that ovation. The recognition is well, well deserved.