WIB Crealock, yacht designer, sailor and sailing author, has died at home in Carlsbad, California, having broken his hip in a fall at the age of 89. Crealock was key in the ‘golden age’ of fiberglass boat design in the 1960s.

In 2002, the Pacific Seacraft 36, designed by Crealock, entered the American Sailboat Hall of Fame, ‘a classic American sailboat with an honesty of design that, combined with the highest standards of boatbuilding?has shown the sailing industry that there is a place in the hearts and budgets of sailors for a boat created expressly to go to sea and bring the crew back safely.’

William Ion Belton Crealock was born 23 August 1920 in Westcliff-on-Sea, around 35 miles east of London. Crealock studied naval architecture at Glasgow University. During World War II he worked in the Glasgow shipyard. In the 1970s, he emigrated to California and ran a boatyard, later working from his home. His ashes are to be scattered at sea.

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