John Fairfax

John Fairfax (21 May 1937 – 8 February 2012) was a British ocean rower and adventurer who, in 1969, rowed across the Atlantic and became the first person to row solo across an ocean. He subsequently went on to become the first to row the Pacific Ocean (with Sylvia Cook) in 1971 and 1972.

Early life

Fairfax was born on 21 May 1937 in Rome, Italy to an English father and Bulgarian mother. As a child he was expelled from the Italian Boy Scouts for opening fire, with a revolver, on a hut containing other Scouts. Soon after, he and his mother moved to Argentina where, aged thirteen, he left home to live in the jungle "like Tarzan", surviving by hunting and bartering skins with local peasants. was designed by Uffa Fox. audio1 = John Fairfax and Sylvia Cook, 43:05, WNYC

Two years later in 1971 he set off with Sylvia Cook from San Francisco in an attempt to row across the Pacific Ocean in their boat Britannia II. Cook had replied to a personal ad that Fairfax had put in The Times when looking for support for his first row. Fairfax was an expert at baccarat and frequented the casinos in Las Vegas.

Fairfax died on 8 February 2012, at the age of 74 in Henderson, Nevada.