Scotsman Obituaries: Joe Kelly, windsurfing pioneer, outdoors retailer and internet entrepreneur

Sadly, at their beautiful and historic new home near Dundee, where he, his wife Wiz and their son Alex had hoped to build their life together after moving from London this spring, time ran out all too suddenly for Joe on 1 October. His plans for the magnificent house, the restoration of a classic “barn find” 1972 Aston Martin, spending more time in and on the water as well as with his family and friends in Scotland, were all scuppered by cancer.

Joe grew up in Bathgate, West Lothian and was always fiercely proud of his roots. Bright and capable at school, he attended Bathgate Academy, but his real passions were fixing – and driving – cars, along with watersports and skiing. With his lifelong friend Gordon Ritchie, he became an accomplished canoeist, learning at Linlithgow Outdoor Centre. It was there that George Thomson introduced the pair to canoeing and dinghy sailing, quickly recognising Joe’s natural talent and application, it was then Joe was introduced to windsurfing.

Joe recognised the business potential in windsurfing, which was booming in the 1980s and in which he had become expert. In Andy Groom he found a like-minded friend and business partner and the duo opened the first 7th Wave windsurfing shop on Old Dumbarton Road, Glasgow. They supported up and coming riders, ran dozens of events locally on Loch Lomond and at Troon and Largs.

7th Wave became well known in Scotland and the duo built a lifelong reputation in the windsurf and surf community in the UK. Joe was one of the earliest pioneers of windsurfing on the Hebridean island of Tiree. In 1985 he joined one of the first windsurfing expeditions to Tiree, research having revealed it to have high average windspeeds, hours of sunshine, waters warmed by the Gulf Stream and surf beaches facing each point of the compass arose. 7th Wave were instrumental in starting, popularising and running the globally renowned wave sailing championship The Tiree Wave Classic.

In 1991 Joe and his photographer wife Avril welcomed their son, Sean, into the world. Avril says of Joe: “He was always a magnet! People were drawn to his warm, caring and fun-loving nature. He was very inclusive. His return to Scotland brought all of us back together. He was the catalyst that did this whatever country he was in.”

It was a natural development to expand the shop operation into skiing and snowboarding, moving to premises in Charing Cross Mansions. They shook up the established snowsports retail market in Glasgow and the West of Scotland. But successive poor winters and the economic crash took its toll. The business was sold to competitor and friend Brian Stark of Edinburgh-based MacH in 1993.

Joe’s business partner and friend of over 40 years, Andy Groom, says: “We have lost a true legend, a natural snow and water sportsman, enterprising, innovative, generous, always there to help, never fazed, party animal, a true friend.” Joe returned to teaching and worked in Greece at Club Vassiliki. A patient and talented instructor, his communication and understanding of the dynamics of the sports made him stand out, as did his dance moves of many an evening in Vassiliki, indeed everywhere.

After Vassiliki, Joe and second wife Wiz, along with Wiz’s brother Jonathan Patterson, started FDD Full Diesel Design, riding the crest of the emerging dotcom boom. The company offered everything from domain registration to full e-commerce solutions for clients such as Siemens, Kodak and the Telegraph. Joe’s energy and vision helped shape the early days of the internet in the UK, when so much of what we now take for granted was still being imagined by the likes of Joe.

In 2001 FDD was acquired by Netscalibur, a major competitor backed by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Joe, ever gracious and forward looking, said: “We were impressed by Netscalibur’s combination of scalability and entrepreneurial spirit. We feel the company has an innovative business model and management with talent and vision.” Those who knew him often smiled at that line because it described Joe perfectly.

After a short sabbatical Joe returned to the IT industry in 2003 with enthusiasm, launching the UK’s first pay-as-you-go broadband provider, Lixxus, with friend James Kershaw. Determined to challenge the dominance of traditional telecom operators, Lixxus quickly made its mark as a true disruptor, competing with the likes of BT and Cable & Wireless. One of his proudest achievements came from powering hundreds of Swisscom public WiFi hotspots across the UK at a time when such connections were rare and novel.

In 2004 Joe and Wiz welcomed son Alex into the world.

Along the way Joe became a pilot and achieved a childhood dream to fly a Spitfire, wrote a book on the First World War and was an accomplished big boat sailor as crew and skipper, racing on the West Coast of Scotland and beyond. He touched the life of so many people, his broad infectious smile, immeasurable kindness, humility and sense of humour always to the fore, achieving so much in his all-too- short time with us.

Wiz said “I met Joe through windsurfing but he later taught me to sail, ski, snowboard, surf, water-ski and wakeboard. He took my whole life in a totally different direction which involved over 30 years of risks, laughs, love and beautiful people.”

Joe will be truly missed by us all, but no doubt more so by his loving close family Wiz, Alex, Avril, Sean, Joe Senior and sister Sue.

Obituaries

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