Philip Wick

Philip "Pip" Wick

Pip's legal name was Philip Wick III but he never used it because it sounded so pretentious which was the exact opposite of who he was. Born in Boston in 1942, Pip was the oldest of three boys and grew up in Connecticut. The family spent winters in the Bahamas because his father (Philip Wick Jr.) was injured during the war and northeast winters were hard on him. Pip would row his younger brothers to school across the bay at Man-of-War Cay because this was, after all, a boating family. They used the original Lucayo (a motorsailer) to make the journey every year.

Pip met Judy, the love of his life, when he was 17. He was 20 when they married and 21 when eldest daughter Shari came into their lives. Jenny was born two years later and son Chip five years after that. The family lived in Rowayton, Connecticut on the Five Mile River while Pip worked as a stockbroker in NYC. Their little family was very close and enjoyed each other's company on Flame, a traditional wooden boat on their annual trips, which involved both touring and racing.

Pip and Judy were living on the Wekiva River in Florida (after a brief stint in North Carolina) when they were finally in a position to build their dream boat. Sailors will understand: our next boat will have TWO heads, a washing machine, larger tanks, etc. The modern Lucayo, a Roger Marshall designed 48' custom sloop was built at Brooklin Boat Yard and launched in 1993. Pip had one condition: he had to be allowed to work on the construction (he was quite a good carpenter and craftsman). BBY had one condition: they were allowed to fire him if things didn't work out. Suffice it to say that everything went quite well, so much so, that after living in Brooklin for 9 months during construction, then launching her, Pip and Judy missed their Brooklin friends so much that they moved out of Florida and "upta" Maine permanently.

At one point in his early life Pip crewed for a lot of racing teams and was almost selected as crew for Courageous for the 1974 American's Cup but they took brother Chris Wick instead as there was only one spot available. While living in Florida Pip also did a lot of diving and worked on developing winged sails as this was an upcoming technology soon to be widely deployed in the sailing world.

Pip and Judy enjoyed Lucayo immensely and shared their sailing experiences with many friends and family. Trips to the Caribbean, Venezuela, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Azores and many CCA events provided much satisfaction and happiness.

Pip was predeceased by parents Philip and Marguerite ("Bunny"), son Philip Charles ("Chip" 2022), grandson Nathaniel (2023) and wife Judith (2024). He is survived by daughters Shari (Frank), Jenny (Jim) and grandchildren Victoria ("Misha"), Seeta, Hayden, Megan, Allison and Audrey ("Rey"), two brothers Christopher and Michael. There will be no visitation per his wishes and a celebration of life will be held at a later date.

Anyone wishing to do so can make a donation in his memory to one of the fine organizations researching Alzheimer's disease.