Where does your passion for sailing come from?

My Dad. He was always windsurfing and sailing and I followed him into both of those. It was always dinghies growing up and I never had the opportunity to be on a yacht until I had already left the corporate world and signed up for my Yachtmaster back in 2018. That was pretty much my first experience on a yacht, barely eight years ago. Since then I have basically lived at sea though.

What lessons has sailing taught you?

Resilience. Each day and each moment flip-flops from great to terrible and back again. You only have yourself to rely on and leaning into that is probably the most satisfying thing about being at sea.

What brought you to like single-handed sailing?

The simplicity and the challenge of it. I want to test myself in the toughest conditions, I want to be uncomfortable and I want to enjoy that feeling. Comfort breeds boredom and boredom is the thief of happiness. You can’t ever be bored on a sailing boat at sea as there is always something to do, something to check, to fix, to plan…

What motivated you to sign up for this event?

I want to raise €1m for Parkinson’s disease because my dad suffers from it. He was diagnosed in 2014 and I feel like the Global Solo Challenge is an incredible opportunity to raise awareness of this cause globally.

Personally, I have spent a lot of time sitting at home recovering since I had a bad accident at sea nearly five years ago, maybe one year in total. In November 2024 I had to have my ankle fused and the process of sitting at home once more for another five months watching your body heal, watching the time go by, made me realize two things: your health is your wealth and you only have one chance at life. At 36 years old, I have a rare opportunity in terms of where I am in my life personally, financially and emotionally. It was a now-or-never moment where you are either brave enough to jump, or you have to spend the rest of your life wondering what if.

It’s special to be able to do the GSC and have a cause so close to home to motivate me through the tough times. It’s a great marriage of a mutual interest of my dad and me, and a cause that affects him directly, and us as a family, as well as so many others.

How are you planning to prepare for this event?

For now I am balancing launching my campaign, my business, my fundraising efforts, my sponsorship efforts and my day job, running a superyacht. From November, I will be full time on the project and will hopefully be able to shift my efforts more towards the boat prep, my sailing, and getting miles under her keel, both crewed racing and solo. I am so fortunate to have a team of people who have come on board, seeing the potential in my project, Racing to End Parkinson’s, so I know we can catch up and be ready for the start line next year.

What do you think will be the greatest challenge?

Getting to grips with a Class40, having never sailed one before I started the boat-buying process.

Tell us about your boat or the boat you would like to have.

I have bought Class40 #147. She is a great boat with a great reputation. Although more expensive than I planned, she is very well equipped so I can spend more time and money on training and development, which is what I need given my tight timeline. She is a serious Class40, and I think she represents the reason I am sailing perfectly. It was love at first sight.

Do you intend to link this personal challenge with a social message?

My campaign is about one thing only: Racing to End Parkinson’s.

I want to raise €1m globally and we are partnering with an ever-growing list of global Parkinson’s charities to maximise the return to Parkinson’s during this event.