A furore has erupted at Tate after a notice was posted in the museum's staff rooms asking for voluntary contributions towards a leaving present for the director, Nicholas Serota, who steps down in June after 28 years in post. “We have thought long and hard about what to get, and decided to put money towards a sailing boat. Nick loves sailing, and this would be a lasting and very special reminder of the high regard which I know so many of us have for Nick and his contribution to Tate,” the appeal stated. Social media posts claimed staff were being asked to chip in for a “yacht” (prompting The Guardian to go overboard—pardon the pun—which reported that junior staff were incensed at the lavish parting prezzie). A Tate spokeswoman tells us that the idea for Serota’s gift came from the staff themselves who wanted to mark his years of service to Tate. “Contributions towards the purchase of a small dinghy, which the staff thought would be an original gift, are entirely voluntary,” she adds. Research undertaken on the dinghy market shows that prices vary wildly, ranging from £12.90 for an inflatable Sea River Pool rowing raft boat to a Honwave T35-AE2 model which goes for a whopping £819.99 (no danger then of a Serota super yacht upsetting local sailors off St Ives).