Largs man Duncan Winning OBE sadly passed away this week, and has been hailed as a 'father figure' in the Scottish sea kayaking scene.

Duncan made national news when he famously sailed down Largs Main Street during a flood in 1999.

When the photo recently appeared on the Largs and Millport News facebook page, Duncan stated: " Well! You have to take the opportunity to establish navigation rights as and when they present themselves!"

It was in 1998 that Duncan received his OBE in the Queen's Honours List for his services to kayaking, and he told the 'News' that it was always one of his ambitions to sail up Largs Main Street when it was flooded. His wish was granted, with television news cameras capturing the feat. he shouted: "I've always wanted to do this" as he passed down the aptly named Bath Street and on to the main thoroughfare of town.

As well as being a real adventurer on the water in his kayaking activities, he was also a passionate member of the the Largs BeachWatch campaign group which he chaired to help improve the shoreline environment with his friend George Rich, the former Largs Town Council Burgh Surveyor. Duncan was also a regular contributor to the 'News' over the years, and was also involved in helping to build the St Ayles skiff for the Firth of Clyde Coastal Rowing Club in recent years.

His kayaking friend Douglas Wilcox paid tribute in an online blog and said: "Duncan started many people off on a lifetime of sea kayaking adventures. He was a true gentleman.

"I was fortunate to paddle with Duncan on many occasions over the years and how we talked! We were both interested in the history of recreational kayaking. Of course I was the student and he was the master. Indeed Duncan not only had an encyclopaedic knowledge of kayaking history, he was actually a very important part of its history himself.

"We would get so engrossed in our discussions that we would fall far behind the others and finish after dark. I was lucky to paddle with Duncan many times on our home waters of the Firth of Clyde but we also paddled together in the Inner and Outer Hebrides and at the alternating sea kayak symposiums at Skye and Jersey, where he was one of the organisers."

Duncan's day job was a draughtsman in a firm of naval architects and this was to allow Duncan to become a key figure in the development of recreational sea kayaks.

Indeed, Duncan surveyed and made drawings of a kayak that Ken Taylor brought back from Illorsuit (Igdlorssuit) in Greenland.

Duncan freely shared these drawings throughout the small sea kayaking community of the time.

Douglas added: "What a loss his passing is. He was a thoroughly decent and modest family man. His influence in his chosen recreation of sea kayaking is immeasurable due to his gift of time to others, willingness to share knowledge and quiet leadership. Farewell Duncan and thank you."