John Ridgway (sailor)

John Ridgway, MBE, (born 1938), is a British yachtsman and rower.

Biography

Ridgway was educated at the Pangbourne Nautical College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. In 1966, whilst a Captain in the Parachute Regiment, Ridgway, together with Chay Blyth, rowed across the North Atlantic in a 20 ft open dory called English Rose III. They successfully completed this in 92 days.

He entered the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in 1968, in an attempt to become the first person to sail single-handed non-stop around the world, but retired from the race in Recife, Brazil.

In 1969 he founded the John Ridgway School of Adventure at Ardmore, Sutherland, Scotland. It is now managed by his daughter, Rebecca.

In 1977-78 he raced the school's 57-foot ketch, English Rose VI, in the Whitbread Round the World Race.

In 1983/4 Ridgway and Andy Briggs sailed English Rose VI in a non-stop passage round the world, setting (what was then) a 203 day record.

In 2003/4 Ridgway circumnavigated the globe in English Rose VI, in a campaign to highlight the plight of albatrosses.

He served with the Special Air Service (SAS).

External links

• John and Marie Christine Ridgway biographies
• Save The Albatross campaign site