John Maddocks is an applied mathematician. Prior to competing in the 1984 Olympics in the Star he completed his D.Phil. at Balliol College Oxford in 1981, all the while competing in the 505 class with Ricky Willows. He then moved to a postdoctoral position at Stanford University in California, where he met his future sailing partner (and fellow Scot) Iain Woolward, and they started their campaign to qualify for the UK team for the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. After a long professional academic career, primarily modelling DNA, but also linked to sailing through physical models of knots, he has recently returned to international sailing in the Dragon class.
