Seasoned navigator and accomplished Dag Pike has passed away. He was 88 years old.
With 65 years of experience with all kinds of vessels, Pike was considered among the most venerable seamen and acclaimed powerboat-racing navigators in the world.
Pike cut his teeth as a teenager in the Merchant Navy and had multiple circumnavigations under his belt by the time he turned 21.
An accomplished author, Pike published his first book, Powerboats in Rough Seas, in 1974. Since then, he’s written at least 50 titles on a wide range of salty subjects, from navigation and powerboating to disasters at sea and weather analysis.
Pike was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation, 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.
Aside from writing, Pike navigated and drove some of the fastest boats in the world, raced with at least two kings, won a World Offshore Powerboat Championship and navigated the winning boats in the first two Round Britain powerboat races.
He also took part in at least six Atlantic record attempts and helped Sir Richard Branson and Sir Chay Blyth win the Blue Riband race across the Atlantic.
Over the course of his long career as a racer and yachtsman, Pike was rescued at sea an astounding 13 times.
‘[I’m] “probably the most rescued person in the world,” Pike told PassasgeMaker magazine in 2019, where he was a frequent contributor. “If you push hard enough something has to give.”
