Stuart Jardine

Twin brothers Stuart and Adrian “Ado” Jardine both became excellent sailors and enjoyed more than 80 years at the top of the sport. Although born in England, the siblings moved to Iraq where their father worked in the Colonial Service. They moved to Palestine and then returned to England before the end of World War II. It was during their time in Palestine that the boys first sailed an X-One Design boat at the age of eight. Sixty-eight years later, Stuart was still winning X-One (XOD) races at Cowes. Stuart and Aldo won the first of many national titles when they won the 1951 Firefly Championship.

After attending the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Stuart joined the Royal Engineers in 1955 and in a long and distinguished career rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was awarded the OBE in 1988. Despite many years in the Army, they allowed him time off to enjoy his sporting pursuits.

Stuart started racing in the Flying Dutchman class in 1959 and won that year’s French Olympic regatta. He was subsequently selected as a reserve for the 1960 Rome Olympics. Jardine won the UK Flying Dutchman Championship four times between 1961-65, and was third in the 1962 World Championship. Having acquired his first Star Class boat in 1967 he was selected for the Mexico City Olympics the following year and finished 10th with James Ramus. Jardine went to his second Olympics at München four years later and, with John Wastall, finished seventh overall, despite leading after race one.

Having been posted to the Royal Engineers Diving establishment in 1982 Jardine played a part in the raising of the Mary Rose later that year. She was one of the biggest ships in King Henry VIII’s Navy and was sunk in battle in 1545 and lay on the bottom of the River Solent for 427 years. Jardine’s long sailing career saw him sail most classes from dinghies to three-quarter ton vessels. He captained the Army and Royal Engineers dinghy teams for many years and won the Inter-Services Gold Cup 13 times. In the 1990s Jardine started sailing J/24 class boats and in addition to winning the UK Championship six times he also won the 1995 European Championship at the age of 62. Also, in the 1990s, Stuart and Ado won the International Masters Regatta at Los Angeles three years in succession 1995-97.

After many years away from XOD, Stuart returned to the class in the 1990s and in 1996 won the coveted Captain’s Cup at Cowes Week. It is one of the hardest trophies to win as it is awarded to the yacht with the best individual record during the week. Not content with winning it aboard Oyster in 1996, Jardine went on to guide Lone Star to victory on six occasions between 1999-2009. His seven wins remained a record at the time of his death in 2023. Stuart Jardine was a member of the Royal Lymington Yacht Club for many years, and when he won his final major event, at the Royal Solent Yacht Club in 2018, he was aged 84.