Some of you may remember John Dingley. He came to sailing a bit late but learnt very fast and attended a number of merlin championships in the late sixties and seventies.He later went on to do well in fireballs and flying fifteens.Latterly he has been dogged by health problems and sadly died last week.Very early in my sailing career, I pitched up to Poole week with no crew or lodgings. The first night I slept in the cruiser shed. John then appeared giving me a key for his family home where I spent the rest of the week.This started a long and happy association with both Parkstone and the merlin class. John will be sadly missed.

Very sad to hear that - John was a front runner in the Merlin fleet at Parkstone when I was crewing (yes, it's true!) in the late 70's and early 80's.  Those were the days when we saw 25 Merlins out regularly on a Saturday afternoon...  and yes, I remember John as a thoughtful person too.