Eric Charles Hiscock (14 March 1908 – 15 September 1986) was a British

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

and author of books on small boat

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

and ocean cruising. Together with his wife and crew Susan Oakes Hiscock (née Sclater, 18 May 1913 – 12 May 1995), he authored numerous accounts of their short cruises and world circumnavigations, accomplished over several decades. His works also include several technical how-to books on sailing and ocean cruising and a film made on board ''Wanderer III'' entitled ''Beyond The West Horizon''.

Early life

Eric Hiscock chronicled his earliest sailing experiences, both solo and later with his wife Susan, in ''Wandering Under Sail'' (first published 1939, revised and enlarged 1948 and 1977). This book primarily contains accounts of his early sailing days on his sailing boats ''Wanderer'' and ''Wanderer II'' from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and on two other small sailing boats, ''Dyarchy'' and ''Tern II''. The 1977 edition includes the story of the Hiscocks' first ocean voyage, a prelude to their later and longer world cruises on subsequent

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

s, all named ''Wanderer''.

Cruises on ''Wanderer III'' and beyond

The account of the Hiscocks' first world circumnavigation (1952–1955) was told in ''Around the World in Wanderer III''. ''Wanderer III'', a

Laurent Giles John Laurent Giles (1901–1969) was an English naval architect who was particularly famous for his sailing yachts. He and his company, Laurent Giles & Partners Ltd, designed more than 1000 boats from cruisers and racing yachts to megayachts. Exam ...

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

, carried the couple around the world via the tropics at a time when few people were cruising the world for pleasure on small sailing boats. The voyage and book accorded them a degree of popular celebrity, and was the first of their three

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...

s. It was also the start of a series of books detailing their later voyages on their sailing boats ''Wanderer III'', ''Wanderer IV'' and ''Wanderer V''. The trips in ''Wanderer III'', together with previous voyages, provided much technical information for his technical how-to volumes on small boat sailing and ocean cruising, ''Cruising Under Sail'' and ''Voyaging Under Sail'' (later combined and published as ''Cruising Under Sail'').

Honours and awards

Eric and Susan Hiscock were awarded the Bluewater Medal by the

Cruising Club of America The Cruising Club of America (CCA) is an international organization of cruisers whose objects are to promote cruising and racing by amateurs, to encourage the development of suitable types of cruising craft, to stimulate interest in seamanship, navi ...

in 1955 for a "Circumnavigation by Canal and Cape of Good Hope by owner and wife, July 24, 1952 – July 13, 1955 in 30-foot Giles-designed cutter." The Bluewater Medal recognizes "meritorious

seamanship Seamanship is the art, knowledge and competence of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, or practice of handling a ship or boat at sea." It involves topics a ...

and adventure upon the sea displayed by amateur sailors of all nationalities, that might otherwise go unrecognized.". The Hiscocks were members or the

Royal Cruising Club The Royal Cruising Club (RCC) is a British yacht club founded in London in 1880 to support leisure sailing. It is most widely known for the series of pilotage books produces under the auspices of the Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation, a ...

, of which Eric was Vice-Commodore from 1959 to 1963, and they received numerous awards. They jointly received the Sir Lennon Goldsmith Exploration Award in 1973, and the RCC Medal for services to cruising in 1975. Susan twice won the Ladies' Cup. The Hiscocks were both appointed

Members of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1984 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1984 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, for services to yachting.

Later life

Eric Hiscock died on board ''Wanderer V'' in Whangarei, New Zealand in 1986. Susan Hiscock died in

Yarmouth, Isle of Wight Yarmouth is a town, port and civil parish in the west of the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. The town is named for its location at the mouth of the small Western Yar river. The town grew near the river crossing, originally a ferry ...

in 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiscock, Eric and Susan British sailors British non-fiction writers Members of the Order of the British Empire Married couples