Bruce Dalling

Bruce Dalling (16 August 1938 – 7 July 2008) was a Springbok South African yachtsman, national hero, also advocate and farmer, best known for taking second place on elapsed time and first on corrected time for the monohull award in the 1968 Observer Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race.

Dalling was born in Johannesburg to Kathleen and William Dalling, a mining captain. He matriculated at St. John's College in Johannesburg, after which he went to sea and then joined the Hong Kong Police for two years. While living in Hong Kong, he took up yachting and participated in major races including the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. After returning to South Africa he was a crew member on the South African yacht Stormvogel.

He studied for an agricultural degree at the University of Natal and became a lecturer in agriculture. He then studied law and became an advocate during the mid-1970s, practising mainly in Pietermaritzburg and Durban. He gave up due to ill health in 1982 and then turned to lecturing at the University of Natal. He went farming in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, but still served as an assessor in high court cases.

He owned his own aircraft, a Cessna 210 Centurion named "Charlie" and participated in sky-diving and was instrumental in establishing the Pietermaritzburg Parachute Club.

He was married to Carol and had three children, a son, William, who is a pilot for Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong and two daughters, Kerry and Cathy.

For the 1968 Observer Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race, Dalling was selected out of 40 applicants to skipper the yacht Voortrekker, a 50 ft ketch designed by the naval architect, Ricus van de Stadt, and built of wood-composite construction by Thesens of Knysna for the Springbok Ocean Racing Trust and sponsored by the Rembrandt Group of Companies.

...
Wikipedia