User:JohnSeaKayaker/sandbox

John J Ramwell (Ocean Kayaker)

John Ramwell is a British paddler who took up kayaking in 1962 when he entered the Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race for the first time. For fifteen years he went on to compete in K1 and K2 kayaks in both the annual Devizes to Westminster Race and marathon competitions. A member of the British Canoe Union (BCU) for over fifty years, he holds their highest coaching awards in both sea and inland canoeing as well as their L3 Racing Coach Award. In 1981 he was awarded the BCU Award of Merit for services to canoeing. He also holds honorary coaching awards from the Netherlands and Australia in recognition of his work in these countries. Ramwell became involved with kayakers from the NE of England in the late 1960s as they began to develop sea kayaking. At that time he was the BCU Regional Coaching Officer for the East of England. His part in this early development of ocean paddling was to publish, in 1972, the first book devoted to this aspect of the sport, ‘Sea Touring, An Informative Book for Sea Canoeists’ which went into five issues, the latest one being available free on demand. In 1972 he staged the first national Sea Kayaking Symposium and went on to manage four further such events in the UK. These have remained the model for similar such symposiums around the world which continue to the present. To further promote the activity of sea kayaking, in 1973 he established the International Sea Kayaking Association which attracted members from around the world for whom he published a newsletter every two months for over forty years. Every year this Association exhibited at the BCU Canoe Exhibition and so was instrumental in encouraging the growth of the sport during this period. In 1973 the BCU determined to establish a specialist committee to encourage and support sea canoeing, to work alongside the other specialist committees that formed the working structure of the BCU. Known as the Sea Touring Committee, it was established and then chaired by Ramwell for over ten years. Over succeeding years Ramwell became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1984, a Member of the Royal Institute for Navigation in 1988, and a member of the National Association of Outdoor Education and the British Institute of Sports Coaches. In 1983 he was asked to lead the kayaking on the British Schools Exploring Society (now the British Exploring Society) expedition to East Greenland. Ramwell went on to become Chief Leader on several expeditions for this Society including those to Norway, Russia, Alaska and Svalbard. He also led the kayaking phases on two expeditions to Southern Chile for Raleigh International in 2000 and 2002. In 1997 Ramwell was awarded a Churchill Scholarship which he used to further the activity of sea kayaking in Newfoundland, Canada, as part of the 500th Anniversary of the founding of Newfoundland by John Cabot, in his ship the Matthew.

Ramwell has led several of his own independent sea kayaking expeditions to places like Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea, Prince William Sound, Alaska, and he was a member of the 1975 North Sea Crossing by sea kayak. Ramwell has contributed as both coach and presenter to sea kayaking symposiums in the UK, North America, Australia and Europe. Married with two children and four grand children, he retired from Government service in 1997 and lives part time in the UK and part time in Newfoundland, Canada.