W. I. B. Crealock

William Ion Belton Crealock (23 August 1920 – 26 September 2009) was a yacht designer and author. He was one of the world's leading yacht designers from the 1960s through the 1990s, and his yachts were owned by the famous and wealthy, including Walter Cronkite and William Hurt.

Early years Crealock was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England in 1920. He attended the Glasgow University where he studied naval architecture and worked at the Glasgow shipyard during World War II.

"Vagabonding Under Sail" In 1948, Crealock and three friends pooled their money, purchased an old cutter, and set out "to study the behavior of boats at sea." Crealock arrived in the United States after "an unhurried two-year journey" in a small sailboat. Crealock's second book, "Towards Tahiti" (published elsewhere as "Cloud of Islands" ) relates the story of a lengthy cruise from Panama, via the Galapagos, to the South Pacific. On this cruise Crealock sailed on the ketch "Arthur Rogers," a Brixham trawler built in 1929, with its owners Tom and Diana Hepworth. The Hepworths later life in the Solomon Islands is documented in the book "Faraway" by Lucy Irvine.

In 1956 and 1957, Crealock was the first mate and navigator on a scientific mission aboard the "Gloria Maris," a 110-foot schooner. Crealock recalled being forced to leave the deck at 1 am, telling the skipper, "There's no use going topside." He designed boats for celebrities, including Walter Cronkite, William Hurt, and Claire Trevor. Crealock said at the time that naval architecture was for people who love boats and boating: "We do it for a living, because if we didn't, we'd probably be doing it on the backs of envelopes."

In 1976, he designed the Willard 8-Ton World Cruising Yacht, a blue water yacht for long-distance cruising, for the Willard Company. Crealock's other well-known designs included the Westsail 42, the Crealock 34 and 37, the Pacific Seacraft 31 and the Dana 24.

In 2002, the Pacific Seacraft 37, designed by Crealock, was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame.

Crealock said the most unusual vessel he was ever commissioned to design was a large bottle. He recalled, "A guy sitting inside was to cruise it down the coast off the beaches to advertise a soft drink. It was never built, fortunately." Crealock did not own a boat himself, saying he had no time to sail one. However, he enjoyed participating in sea trials of the boats he designed, joking that he did so "just to show I'm not afraid the boat's going to sink."

Crealock died at his home in Carlsbad, California, in September 2009. He was survived by his wife, Lynne (Banner) Crealock, a daughter, a stepson and a grandson.

Designs Cabo Rico 34 Cabo Rico 36 Cabo Rico 38 Clipper 21 Clipper 23 Clipper 26 Clipper 32 Columbia 22 Columbia 28 Columbia 36 Coronado 23 Crealock 37 Dana 24 Del Rey 50 Irving & Exy Johnson Pacific Seacraft 31 Pacific Seacraft 34 Pacific Seacraft 37 Pacific Seacraft 40 Pacific Seacraft 44 Westsail 32 Westsail 42