Stewart Morris, OBE, (25 May 1909 – 24 February 1991) 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 ...

, born in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He competed at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and won a gold medal in the Swallow class with

David Bond David Bond may refer to: * David P. Bond (author) (1951–2020),Journalist, historian and author * David Bond (sailor) (1922–2013), British sailor and Olympic Champion * David Bond (journalist), British sports journalist * David Bond (des ...

. Stewart was educated at

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey Londo ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. He was a member of the Cambridge University Cruising Club
Cambridge University Cruising Club website and sailed against Oxford three times in 1928-30. He remained a bachelor and devoted his life to sailing, while continuing to run the seasonal family hop business in East London. He was instrumental in founding the Oxford & Cambridge Sailing Society and continually promoted team racing in the UK and internationally. Stewart raced his Olympic boat, Swift, in later years at

Itchenor Sailing Club Itchenor Sailing Club is a sailing club located in Chichester Harbour which was founded in 1927. History West Itchenor is situated on the prevailing wind's windward shore, in a well-protected position in the harbour. Unlike Bosham, Dell Quay ...

in Chichester Harbour where he won the Nationals and Cowes week numerous times. He also lived in Itchenor after he retired from business. However, the real passion of Stewart's life, from his undergraduate days onwards, was the

International 14 The International 14 is a British racing sailboat, crewed by two sailors. The class was established in 1928. The boat is a developmental sailing class and so the design rules and the boats themselves have changed dramatically over time to keep ...

dinghy. His record of success in the class is unrivalled and he was 12 times winner of the Prince of Wales (PoW) Cup: 1932 Torbay in R.I.P. K267; 1933 Lowestoft in R.I.P. K267; 1935 Cowes in Alarm K347; 1936 Clyde in Alarm K347; 1947 Hunstanton in Martlet K507; 1948 Cowes in Martlet K507; 1949 Torbay in Martlet K507; 1957 Hunstanton in Bolero K667; 1960 Falmouth in Bolero K667; 1961 Whitstable in Gossip K767; 1962 Weymouth in Gossip K767; and 1965 Scarborough in Encore K847. He had Half models of every 14 he had owned adorning the walls of his itchenor house. Stewart served as an officer and as a committee member of a great many sailing clubs and organisations. He was Rear Commodore of the

Royal Yacht Squadron The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to w ...

and Vice Chairman of the

Royal Yachting Association The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is a United Kingdom national governing body for sailing, dinghy sailing, yacht and motor cruising, sail racing, RIBs and sportsboats, windsurfing and personal watercraft and a leading representative for i ...

for many years. He served as Commander in the

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

during the Second World War.

References

1909 births 1991 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School British male sailors (sport) People from Bromley Sailors at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Swallow Olympic sailors of Great Britain English Olympic medallists Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Olympic medalists in sailing Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II {{UK-Olympic-medalist-stub