CV

Born 17th March 1939, in Putney, London. The eldest of 4 brothers. School at Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, the same school as Bill Tilman and Graham Greene. A term mate of Michael Meacher MP. Main interests long running, swimming and boxing. Not very good at team sports, indeed, chose tennis as opposed to cricket, but usually slipped away to Grandparents house to work on a 1927 Austin 7 car instead of either. Went to sea in the Merchant Navy in 1957 as a Deck officer. In 1962 married childhood sweetheart, Suzanne, who passed away in November 2003 as a result of ovarian cancer. One daughter, Sara, born in Bombay 1963, and now 5 grandchildren. Interests:- Sailing, Exploring by boat, Maritime History, the marine environment, youth development, shooting. In 1992 RKJ was invited to become President of the Sail Training Association, a youth development organisation which operated two topsail schooners “Sir Winston Churchill” and “Malcolm Miller” and also organised the annual Tall Ships races. Before he retired in 2001 £11 million had been raised to replace these two vessels with two larger brigs “Prince William” and “Stavros Niarchos” respectively left and right below. Also in 1992 he became a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, London, serving as Chairman of the Friends for 3 years, before being appointed a Greenwich representative for the projected Maritime Museum in Falmouth, Cornwall. His ten years at Greenwich expired in 2002, but he remains a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum – Cornwall, at Falmouth which opened in 2003. RKJ was appointed to the Sports Lottery Panel at its inception in 1995, initially distributing £250 million a year, and from 1999 until 2002 served as a member of the English Sports Council Milestones 1969 Awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) 1970 UK Yachtsman of the Year 1970 Royal Cruising Club Seamanship Medal. 1972 Elected a Younger Brother of Trinity House. 1972 Member of the RNLI Committee of Management 1990 Silk Cut Nautical award Seamanship Trophy 1990 Honorary Doctorate – Maine Maritime Academy 1991 Royal Cruising Club Challenge Cup 1991 Cruising World Magazine (USA) Medal of honour 1992 Royal Institute of Navigation - Gold Medal for experiments with renaissance navigation. 1992 Freeman of the City of London 1992 Awarded Honorary Doctor of Technology – Southampton University 1994 Elected Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation. 1994 The Maritime Trust's Cutty Sark Medal 1994 ISAF World Sailor of the year. 1994 UK Yachtsman of the Year (2nd time) 1995 Hon Acadamecian, The Maritime Institute (Portugal) 1995 The Institute of Navigation (USA) Superior Achievement Award 1995 Elected President of the Little Ship Club 1995 Knighted 2006-07 4th Velux 5 Oceans Solo Around the World Yacht Race 2007 UK Yachtsman of the Year (3rd time) 2008 ISAF Hall of Fame 2010 Awarded the Cruising Club of America, Blue water medal for the advancement of sailing, sail training and youth development Yacht Clubs Honorary Member – Royal Yacht Squadron President – Little Ship Club Hon Rear Commodore – Royal Naval Sailing Association Hon Member – Royal Irish Yacht Club Hon Member – Royal Harwich Yacht Club Hon Member – Royal Western Yacht Club Hon Member – Royal Southampton Yacht Club Hon Member – Benfleet Yacht Club Hon Member – Howth Yacht Club Hon Member – County Wicklow Yacht Club