The death has been announced of sailing pioneer in Malta, John Ripard. He passed away at the age of 96.
Ripard is remembered as a winner in the 1970s Middle Sea Race with the yacht Tikka and, in the same year, he was named Sportsman of the Year in the inaugural edition of the Sports Writers Association awards.
Ripard represented Malta at the 1955 Mediterranean Games in Barcelona and at the 1960 Rome Olympics, alongside his brother Paul, where they competed in the Star class in the Bay of Naples. In 1958, he also took part in the World Underwater Fishing Championships held in Sesimbra, Portugal.
Ripard served as a member of the Admiral’s Cup jury and, in 1987, was chairman of the race committee for the America’s Cup Challenger series. In 2001, at the Isle of Wight, he was a jury member for the America’s Cup Jubilee event. He was also an international jury member at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
In 1992, he was awarded the Medal for Service to the Republic and in 2005 was inducted into the Malta Olympic Committee Hall of Fame.
