PROFILE
Born 1979 in South Africa of British parents. My brother and I left South Africa in 1997 to live and work In England. For the next five or so years I worked in a variety of different jobs, all of which dealt with the public to some degree and presented different challenges. While in South Africa I had my first sailing experiences on my father’s yacht, and these inculcated a love of the sea and latent desire to one day follow a career in sailing. In 2002 a great personal family tragedy resulted in my father and I refitting his 38 foot yacht which he had sailed from South Africa to England the previous year, and we set sail for Gibraltar and the Mediterranean in early 2003. I had obtained a Day Skipper qualification before this.
In Gibraltar I went to work for a scuba diving operation and eventually did this for the next three years, becoming a qualified diving and speciality instructor. During this time I continued to sail for pleasure and also obtained an Ocean Skipper certificate. In late 2006 I left the diving business to concentrate on sailing. I delivered several yachts, the last one being a Moody 40 from Gibraltar to the Caribbean. While in the Caribbean I looked for employment on a larger yacht. Two days later I started work as deckhand on a 36 metre classic sailing yacht, Tiziana, at the time doing a Caribbean charter cruise. Nine months later I was promoted to first mate, and ten months after this I became the vessel’s captain. I stayed with Tiziana for a total of 9 years, mostly cruising the Mediterranean. In 2016 I was offered the opportunity to become the skipper of Twilight, an Oyster 125, which would be chartering in both the Caribbean and Mediterranean. The position meant more responsibilities and was more challenging. I accepted and have thoroughly enjoyed the last 8 years.
I consider myself an experienced professional who prides herself in delivering excellent services to charter guests and the vessel’s owners. Some of my greatest strengths are total reliability, integrity and loyalty.
ROLE IN THE YACHTING INDUSTRY
Primarily to ensure my charter guests have a safe and thoroughly enjoyable charter. To achieve this my vessel has to be meticulously maintained with all systems in perfect working order. The crew must be knowledgeable, always helpful, and happy and contented.
This also largely fulfils my obligation to the vessel’s owners, as a feasible business operation. I also use my influence wherever possible to urge strict adherence to procedures for keeping our seas, beaches and shorelines clean. I regard this as extremely important.
MOTIVATION FOR JOINING JUDGING PANEL
My only motivation is to make available my inbuilt sense of fairness, and my wide experience, having started on the bottom rung of the crew ladder and understand what everyone has to go through.
