Derek Hutchinson, Pioneer of Sea Kayaking as a Sport, Dies at 79 Derek Hutchinson, who took a one-day course on sea kayaking as a young high school teacher, fell in love with the sport and went on to become one of its grand old men, died on Oct. 10 at his home in South Shields, England. He was 79. The cause was cancer, said his friend Wayne Horodowich, the founder of the University of Sea Kayaking in Mill Creek, Wash. Mr. Hutchinson, an instructor, author, boat designer and hero of treacherous voyages in kayaks, became involved in sea kayaking in the 1960s, when people were beginning to see sporting possibilities in the vessels Eskimos had long regarded as primary transportation. He and other early enthusiasts experimented with new materials like fiberglass and new designs to increase the stability and range of homemade kayaks. Mr. Hutchinson dreamed up ever longer and more dangerous expeditions for kayakers. He taught safe, efficient techniques, first in Britain and then around the world. He wrote more than a dozen books and added a sprinkling of poetry, hailing sea kayakers as "the last true free spirits." A half-century later, Eric Soares, a kayaker who wrote about the sport (and who died this year), said of Mr. Hutchinson, "We consider him our Sea Daddy." Mr. Hutchinson entered kayaking lore in August 1975 with a spectacular failure. He was leading five kayakers in one-person kayaks in an attempt to cross the capriciously perilous North Sea from England to Belgium, a distance of more than 100 miles, when things began to go wrong. They found they had to paddle continuously to maintain control of the kayaks. They could not sleep, because unattended kayaks could easily flip and they could drown. But with only primitive navigation equipment and a rough sea, they ultimately had no idea where they were. They hallucinated, vomited and suffered hypothermia and dehydration. After 34 grueling hours in which they veered eight miles off course, a passing ferry spotted their last remaining signal flair and picked them up. But redemption came the next June, when Mr. Hutchinson and two companions, Tom Catsky and Dave Hellywell, completed the crossing in 31 hours, setting a world record for distance traveled in a kayak. They succeeded by recognizing the surging, dangerous currents that had thwarted them the first time and tying up to a giant buoy until the tide changed. The expedition proved the seaworthiness of kayaks Mr. Hutchinson had designed. "The North Sea crossing was a milestone," Mr. Hutchinson said years later. It took the kayak out of the toy-boat class and put it into the serious deep-sea craft category. Derek Charles Hutchinson was born in South Shields on June 30, 1933. As a youth he was a lifeguard, and he later applied that experience to saving lives with kayaks. After serving in the British Army as a military police officer, he went to work in the local shipyard as a plumber and pipe fitter. Tiring of that work, he began teaching shop courses at a public high school. The school encouraged teachers to try different pastimes so that they might then introduce them to students. In 1963, Mr. Hutchinson took a one-day kayaking course in a swimming pool and was enthralled. He eventually grew so skilled in the sport that he became an instructor for the British Canoe Union, which had a division devoted to kayaks. He also helped develop one of the first kayak lifeguard units in Britain and was soon designing the craft, creating 17 all told. Many of his designs were used around the world. Among the innovations he helped introduce and popularize were bulkheads, the watertight compartments in front of and behind the boat's cockpit. In 1976 Mr. Hutchinson wrote and illustrated "Sea Canoeing," which was later retitled "The Complete Book of Sea Kayaking." Translated into several languages and now in its fifth printing, it came to be regarded as a bible for the sport. Mr. Hutchinson's wife, Helene, died in 2004. He is survived by his partner, Maureen Cook; his sons, Clive and Graham; his daughter, Fiona; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Mr. Hutchinson was known to disdain protective clothing, saying good kayakers do not get wet. But Mr. Horodowich said Mr. Hutchinson had actually worn a wet or dry suit in his later years and expected students to follow his lead. His gift for the colorful phrase was indisputable. "Hold your paddle like a fairy holds her wand, not how a witch holds her broomstick!" he exhorted his pupils. And his opinions were firm. He asserted, for example, that the proper length for a sea kayak was exactly 16 feet 10 inches. When questioned about this by a dubious kayak designer, he explained that the length could not be any greater because his garage was 17 feet long.