JOHN CLARIDGE BOATS

John started sailing British Moths at the Salterns Sailing Club in Lymington, when he was 5  years old with help from Major Hibbert who did a lot for youngsters in the negihbourhood.

When he got older he used to make his pocket money by buying British Moths, doing them up, often with his father's help, then buying a new sail, winning some races and selling them.  As the demand on his boatbuilding skills grew, he decided to set up his own boatbuilding buisness rather than going to a teacher training college, initially working from his parents' garden shed.  He was later joined by his brother-in-law, Mervyn Cook and in 1973 the Magnum MK1 was born, which had a narrow U-section planning hull and enormous wooden wings to which the mast was stayed.  The Magnum MK2 had a flared hull into which they tried to triangulate all the stress loads.  This boat won them both the National and European championships and is claimed by John to have an immense influence not only on the Moth but on other development classes.  During this time his buisness expanded and moved out from the garden shed to the Sadlers Farm Workshops. 

The Magnum designs and the development of carbon spar dominated the major championships for over a decade and won John a Nautical Award for his contribution to commercial building of pleasure craft.

AHEAD OF HIS TIME                                                               GOOD OLD DAYS

 JOHN 1980

On arrival of his children he moved to more family orientated boat and reinvented the Lymington Scow, which has been used for the Junior sailing at the Royal Lymington Y.C. and enjoyed by a wide range of sailors.

As his chilredn have moved on from British Moths to Optimist to 420 and Laser, John's expertise has expanded with their sailing activities.

Recently he has helped to develop and make performance foils for the 470 Olympic team and also launched the Lymington Pram, a bigger version of the Scow.