Joseph Weston Martyr (1885 – 27 March 1966), was a pioneer British ocean yachtsman, writer and broadcaster, who was influential in the creation of the Fastnet race after participating in similar races in Bermuda in 1924 Martyr's varied adult life started when he went to sea at the age of 15 to serve on square-riggers and then steamers.
He then worked as a miner in South Africa, a labour recruiter in China for Rand Mines and in the merchant and steamship business in Japan.
He also spent time trading in the South Seas and banking in Formosa (Taiwan), and also acted as consul in Shimonoseki.
[1] After serving with the Royal Engineers during the First World War in France, he returned to the Pacific, and then ran a steamship business in New York.
[1] His first book, The Southseaman (1926) describes the design and building of yacht in the fishing port of Shelburne, Nova Scotia ("Sheldon" in text).