England-born Jack Cribb came to Canada in 1907, after having worked in a dockyard in his youth, and soon joined the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. The most important of his many yacht races came in 1932, when he was selected to represent Canada in the 8 metre class at that year’s Summer Olympics, alongside Peter Gordon, George Gyles, Harry Jones, Ronald Maitland, and Hubert Wallace. Despite losing all four races, the Canadians brought home a silver medal from the Games because the only other nation to enter the 8 metre tournament was the United States. Among Cribb’s other notable competitions were his victories in the 1929, 1931, and 1932 Seattle-Vancouver Lipton Cup races.
Outside of yachting, Cribb spent time working in the Klondike region of the Yukon and in Eastern Canada with the Grand Trunk Railway before settling in Vancouver and taking up management positions at West Coast Salvage and Contracting. During World War II he worked as a dockyard supervisor for the construction of numerous war vessels. He was made an honorary life member of the RVYC in 1954 and the club’s Jack Cribb Memorial Trophy Regatta is held annually in his honor.
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