Ken Merron died suddenly on Sunday 4th February, on his way to singing in the choir at St Nicholas Church. Born in 1944, Ken grew up sailing on the Thames and captained the Oxford University sailing team in 1963-1964. He built his first International 14 ‘Zuleika’ in the university holidays, which he raced at Itchenor and London Corinthian, transported on the roof of his Mini to avoid speeding fines. In his early 20s, he was a regular I14 competitor at ISC and a member of the victorious British team at the 1969 I14 World Championships in Canada, captained by Mike Peacock.
Ken met his wife Sue at Oxford. They married in 1966 and had two children, Miranda and Jason, in whom Ken instilled his passion for sailing from their earliest years. They acquired the C&C39 ‘Manitou’ while living in Canada in the mid 70s, which they sailed across the Atlantic twice (in 1979 & 1981) with their children and friends, and raced and cruised regularly in Canada, Europe and the Caribbean including a fortuitous early retirement from the 1979 Fastnet!
Merron family arriving in Itchenor from Canada in 1979
Ken and Sue moved to Tokyo in 1989, where Ken won the Japanese I14 Nationals in 1992, crewed by Miranda. The lure of mountaineering in Japan and riding after returning to England took Ken away from the sea for a couple of decades, until he returned in 2015 to his favourite pastime of messing about in boats on his elegant motorboat ‘Loch Lomond’, built by his son-in-law Halvard. Ken will be lovingly remembered by Sue, Miranda (Halvard), Jason (Andrea), and his two grandchildren Alice & Eleanor. His funeral will take place at 1200 on Monday 4th March at St Nicholas’ Church in Arundel. Please let Sue (sue@merron.net) know if you plan to attend.