Yachtsman, author and collator of sailing records, D H ‘Nobby’ Clarke has died of heart failure aged 88. He wrote eight books, the first on his flying experiences during and after World War II, What Were They Like To Fly ? published by Ian Allen, the other seven are sailing books.

The first was Trimarans an Introduction, published by Adlard Coles in 1969; then came The Lure of the Sea: an ‘escapist guide to running away to sea in your own boat’ (Adlard Coles) in 1970; East Coast Passage (Longman) 1971, about living and sailing aboard the sailing barge John & Mary; Trimaran Development (Adlard Coles) in 1972; The Multihull Primer (Adlard Coles) 1973. These came from his long association with the American multihull designer Arthur Piver. Nobby was his UK agent for many years.

Then came An Evolution of Singlehanders (Stanford Maritime) 1976 and finally Blue Water Dream (David McKay New York) 1981. The last two centre around Nobby’s research into sailing records. In 1973 Norris McWhirter of the Guinness Book of Records approached Nobby and asked him to compile a section on sailing records. However the pair failed to agree on a fee and instead the task went to the late Sir Peter Johnson.

Nobby lived at Woolverstone, near Ipswich, Suffolk and leaves a widow, Mollie and son Kester. See Yachting Monthly December for the full story of his life.