The Titanic set sail and a tragedy unraveled.

Just how it came to be and who was responsible remains an area of debate and concern for every ship that sets out to sea.

Whether it is an iceberg or rocks on the coast of Italy, ships are always in peril - by nature and by human failing.

The Sandhills English-Speaking Union will have maritime speaker and sailor Graham Anthony speaking Wednesday, April 11, just days before the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the famed ocean liner.

Anthony's talk will be "Titanic: The Triumph That Turned to Tragedy." He brings not only years of study, but his own history of sailing many different seas and types of boats.

He served with the Royal Engineers in Berlin, where he became a competitive helmsman sailing the Olympic "Stars" on the Havel. He has sailed in Bombay Harbour, and has learned to master the North Sea among many other areas. He has written for marine journals and published a number of books, given frequent lectures on cruise ships, to universities and other organizations.

Anthony will take the audience on a journey with a sailor's eye and experience to understand just how the biggest ship in the world at that time failed so spectacularly.

In an age of big money and high competition, the White Star Line hoped to combine their prestige with Harland and Wolff's technical supremacy so as to compete with Cunard and German lines for the lucrative and expanding oceanic traffic across the seas.

The evening program at The Country Club of North Carolina begins with cocktails at 6 p.m., followed by a dinner at 7. Anthony will begin his presentation at 8 p.m.

For more information about attending this program, contact Martha O'Connor at (910) 235-0635 or Ron Fick at ESU@nc.rr.com.