It is with great sadness that we report the death of Dag Pike at the age of 88.
At the outbreak of WWII, Dag was evacuated to Cornwall, where he started his lifelong association with the sea. By the time he was 16 he was sailing on tramp ships, experiencing the first of his 13 shipwrecks two years later off Scotland on a 6,000 tonne cargo ship.
By the age of 21 he had already circumnavigated the world several times in the Merchant Navy, and for over 60 further years he became a world-renowned marine navigator, being involved with a handful of world records. These included navigating the 1986 record-breaking Virgin Atlantic Challenger II Atlantic crossing with Sir Richard Branson and Sir Chay Blyth. He was also involved in the failed attempt the previous year, when Virgin Atlantic Challenger I sank just hours from the finish line. And at the age of 75 he won the 2008 Round Britain Offshore Powerboat Championship.
Dag was also a prodigious author of over 40 books on marine navigation, as well as a journalist, writing for Yachting Monthly for decades.
In addition to being a Fellow of our own Institute, he was a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering Science and Technology, an Associate Fellow of the Nautical Institute and an Associate Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society. Dag had joined RIN in 1967 and gained his Fellowship 1987. He served on Council 2009-12 and again in 2018-19.
We have lost a remarkable navigator, friend and contributor to our Institute. We pass our condolences to his wife, Cath, and family.
Roderick Douglas (Dag) Pike 28 January 1933 - 29 May 2021
A further comprehensive obituary can be found at Yachting Monthly
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