Jump to content

Jack Cropp

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jack Cropp
Cropp in 1956
Personal information
Full nameJohn Urquhart Cropp
Born23 May 1927
Hokitika, New Zealand
Died25 June 2016 (aged 89)[1]
Tākaka, New Zealand
Sailing career
ClassSharpie
ClubCanterbury Yacht and Motor Boat Club
Medal record
Representing  New Zealand
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1956 Melbourne Sharpie class

John Urquhart Cropp (23 May 1927 – 25 June 2016) was a New Zealand yachtsman. Together with Peter Mander, Cropp won the Sharpie class at the 1956 Olympics.

Cropp and Mander were the first sailors from New Zealand to compete at Olympics. They finished second, and were promoted to the first place after Australian team was disqualified for obstruction. They were inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.[1]

Cropp was born on a small farm at Kowhitirangi, near Hokitika. When he was a toddler, his family moved to McCormacks Bay, Christchurch. There he started sailing, together with Mander who lived nearby. Cropp initially worked as a lithographer in the printing industry, but after becoming a prominent sailor turned into a professional boatbuilder and designer. In 1973 Cropp, his wife Judith and their three children moved to Tākaka, where he died aged 89.[2][3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Jack Cropp, one half of New Zealand's first Olympic gold medal sailing crew, has died at the age of 89". NZ Newswire. 27 June 2016. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016.
  2. ^ Jack Cropp. New Zealand Olympic Committee
  3. ^ Yahoo! News Australia, NZ sailing great Cropp dies at 89 Archived 15 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
[edit]