Ian Nicolson

Ian Nicolson (OCC Member) who has written more than 20 books, both narrative, but mostly practical, and certainly a splendid combination of entertainment and information for cruising yachtsmen. Born in 1928, Ian remains as passionate as ever in his late 70s about everything to do with boats and sailing. His early books, "The Voyage of the Maken", and "Sea Saint" tell of his adventures as a young man. In the first book he sails from the UK to Vancouver, via the Panama Canal in the 1950s. In The Sea Saint Ian describes how he hitchhiked from Canada to East Coast USA and built and fitted out the bare hull of a 30ft wooden yacht in Nova Scotia - sailing her singlehanded to Weymouth in the summer of 1954.

Some of his books - which include "The Boat Data Book", "Build Your Own Boat", "Surveying Small Craft", "A Sail for All Seasons" and "Yacht Design" - have been translated into several languages and Ian has written for all the British (and several foreign) sailing magazines over the years.