Turner was originally apprenticed to Souters in Cowes, Isle of Wight, building International 14s and Flying Fifteens.
Turner then crewed Phil Morrison to win the Fireball World Championships in 1981 at Weymouth.
[1] Over a fifteen-year period, Turner won the British Merlin Rocket National Championship twice as crew (1974 and 1978) and four times as helm (1983, 1984, 1987, and 1988).
Turner then found the first two orders for his fledging business—with Morrison's help—for a National Scorpion 1812 "New Wave" for Andrew Mercer, which started the process of significant development within that class's One-Design rules.
[3] The following year, he built a Merlin Rocket 3260 "The Feet", a Morrison-designed NSM2, with which Andy Street won the Class Championships in 1981.