Born in San Diego, John was the eldest of the seven children of Jean and Gerald Driscol, who raised their family on Point Loma. From an early age, his life was closely tied to the waterfront and the sailing community. John became a world class sailor, a yacht broker and 1998 Commodore of San Diego Yacht Club. He was a husband, a brother, a father, an uncle, a grandfather, a godfather and a friend of many.
John began racing overseas in his late teens: with Lowell North in the 1-Ton World Cup in Sardinia; many other races in the Med; for Ted Turner in the Southern Ocean Racing Circuit, and 50-foot boat Regattas on Champosa V in the US Virgin Islands, Northeastern US, Japan in 1989 and the Admiral’s Cup in England, 1991. He was skipper for SDYC when they won the Lipton Cup in 1999 and 2000.
His beloved boat was a Star, the oldest Olympic Class sailboat still in competition. He named it Theophilus (“friend of God” in Greek). John and crew Hugo Schreiner won many races on that boat, including the North American Star Regatta in 1982.
In 2008 he bought Chimaera, a 47′ sailboat designed by Olin Stephens and his father Gerald, that he helped build in 1967 at the boatyard his father built, Driscoll Boatyard on Shelter Island. John located it in Los Angeles in poor condition, brought it back to San Diego, repaired it and raced it in San Diego from then on.
John and Jan Shirley married in 1987. They loved to travel and to enjoy the Southern California boating lifestyle. John opened Driscoll Yacht Sales in the ‘80’s, and in doing so built a respected brokerage that counted clients and broker colleagues among his many friends.
John will be remembered for the force of his personality and his many accomplishments. He had a quick wit and sense of humor, a generous spirit, fierce loyalty, a great gift for storytelling, and was an instinctive problem solver who rarely accepted an obstacle without first examining it from every angle. He had an insatiable curiosity, learned how things work and could be made better, and shared his knowledge and problem solving with many of his friends and colleagues.
The relationships he built with family and friends, in yacht sales and in sailing, were enduring and deeply valued. He will be missed and fondly remembered by his family, Jan’s family, friends, fellow sailors, the yacht brokerage community, clients and others whose lives he touched both on and off the water.
CYBA President Dean West said of John, “We were friends for over 40 years, and we always had a laugh, no matter the health difficulties and challenges he battled in recent years. Losing John leaves a hole in our close-knit boating family. He was one-of-a-kind.”
John is survived by his wife, Jan Shirley Driscoll; siblings Chuck, Tom, Mary Carol, and Michael; sisters-in-law, Laurie, Karen and Lynn; son Christopher; nieces and nephews, Cameron, Andrew, Jessica, Stephen, Jack and Kaitlin; and grandkids Chloe, Greyson and Latham.
A Celebration of John’s Life was held August 21, 2026 at San Diego Yacht Club.
