Martin Sharp

Martin Sharp was a draughtsman working in a shipyard on the Isle of Wight, where he lived aboard a houseboat called Veronica at the famous George Marvin’s Yard in Cowes. The 6-metre yacht Titia, which Sharp crewed at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, was designed by David Boyd and built on the Isle of Wight, being completed just a few months before the Olympics. The boat was jointly owned by Kenneth Preston and Robert Steele, and Preston (helmsman), Steele, and Sharp were joined aboard her during the Olympic regatta by Frank Murdoch and Franklin Woodroffe. Titia had won her first race during a regatta at Calshot in the Solent just six weeks after launch. She was an easy winner of the 6-metre Olympic Trials, but finished a disappointing ninth at Helsinki. Titia was subsequently sold and spent her time racing in Canadian waters before moving to Rhode Island.

Titia’s joint owners Preston and Steele had been racing together since the 1930s and enjoyed a great deal of success with the 8-metre Saskia, their 1936 Olympic entry. Saskia was the name of painter Rembrandt’s wife. They had a son called Titus who, in turn, had a daughter named Titia, the name of Preston and Steele’s 1952 Olympic entry.