What a couple of days, incredible emotion, and a real feeling of making a positive move to make a difference. A group of us were in Liverpool to see a good friend and incredible person, Dan Monk, off on the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race.
Here’s what this is all about…
I had more fun than I have had in a long time this week!
We’ve had our first Trust activities week at Bradwell on Sea Outdoor Education Centre. For the first time we’ve attempted a residential activities week, rather than the standard 4-day Yacht trips that we’ve done so far.
I spent the first two days there and we had a fantastic time, despite the fact that the weather could have been better. The centre was just fantastic, and the activities had us laughing ourselves to bits!
Wednesday was a fantastic day as I switched off from work and spent all day with the Kids! We began in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight which is where the boats had spent the night before. There were 13 kids spread between three boats, from places as far away as Scotland to London, and all of various ages. It’s always incredible to get to know the kids and spend time amongst their incredible smiling faces! They are always so much fun and it’s a lesson for anyone out there in motivation to see their passion for just getting on with life.
Well, the results for the Round the Island Race were fantastic for the Ellen MacArthur Trust, we had the first and the last boat to finish, and two other boats, both with 5 kids on each… In addition to that we had 10 walkers who, starting at 0430am walked around the island, and 40 cyclists who cycled the course…
Everyone had a fantastic time, from the walkers who walked 35miles, to the cyclists who beat us on our watery course, to the kids, most importantly, who had a ball.. Comments were that the race was wet and fun, and I can vouch that that was certainly the atmosphere onboard our boat! There were a few whoops and cheers as our two guests got a real hosing on the back side of the island…. But above all it was fun!
Well, I’ve just literally stepped off the Extreme 40 JPMorgan Asset Management on which I sailed to support the Ellen MacArthur Trust in the Round the Island Race.. It was absolutely wonderful to get out on the water and race one of these fantastic boats. There was a strong westerly wind, and a good swell running on the south side, something which kept you on your toes as you powered along! Extreme 40’s aren’t normally powering down the back of the Isle of Wight, so we had to be careful not to overpower the boat and dig the bows in! Onboard we had Nick Hutton, George Skuodos, Greg Homann, BBC South journalist Jo Kent and Campbell Fleming, Head of UK, JPMorgan Asset Management. Our two guests loved it, and were full of fighting spirit to will us on round the racetrack! They did get a little wet though, in fact so wet that Campbell’s lifejacket automatically inflated… Nice!
Anyway, it was a close race with ABN AMRO and iShares never far behind. The guys were fantastic, and the atmosphere onboard was fantastic. We all had a great time, but to cross the line first was just great!
ellen