Tributes have been coming in following the news that sailing instructor, author and friend to PBO – John Goode – has died.

John wrote a series of practical articles for PBO in the 1990s illustrated by former PBO Deputy Editor, Dick Everitt, who paid tribute:

‘John Goode was a rough diamond, his tough exterior was honed by many years in the Merchant Navy. But he could also be very kind, with endless patience for students trying to bring a boat alongside, or struggling with ‘secondary port calculations’.

‘On leaving the Navy he set up a company installing motorway crash barriers, which taught him to be a very canny businessman, and gave him enough cash to take over the Southern Sailing School. This was a ‘no frills’ outfit, which taught thousands of sailors how to go to sea safely.

‘There John developed loads of simple teaching methods, which fitted in beautifully with PBO’s thinking.

‘So we collaborated over a number of years producing a series of fully illustrated guides to boat handling and navigation etc.

‘John got things done. We could use all his boats and instructors to get the pictures we needed; like going aground on purpose, and motoring backwards to fill the sails on a windless day!

‘Later John moved on and ran Sailing Today for a while, and then wrote for many magazines around the world. His talents were recognised by becoming a senior RYA examiner, a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and a consultant to various marine bodies. It was his energy and drive that got the huge practical demonstrations of dealing with fouled anchors and flying a spinnaker into various boat shows.

‘John always had a slight piratical look, and I’m sure he knew a few. One day he whispered to me he was training the SAS to sail. “Oh yeah,” I thought. “Another tall tale…” – but no, the following week we got an order from them for some of the magazine’s reprinted articles!

‘He’ll be greatly missed, but his wisdom lives on in various ways at his website.’

Eight bells for sailing instructor and writer John Goode – yachtingmonthly.com