Torresen Sailing Site:   What made you decide:  I want to sail around the world ?

I sailed round the world after leaving the Army as a family adventure
with my wife and two young daughters and always planned to go back to  sea. I need the competitive element now and a bigger challenge. I  decided I would be in the next race when I went to Charleston four years ago for the start of the last BOC. I'm a very competitive person and I want to win.

Torresen Sailing Site:  What do you think the best qualities of your boat are ?

It comes from a proven line of winning race boats designed by Jean
Marie Finot and Pascal Conq, designers of Christophe Auguin's Geodis  (formerly Sceta Calberson), winner of the last BOC and the 1996/7  Vendee and it is a development of Yves Parlier's Aquitaine Innovations  and Isabelle Autissier's PRB. Magellan Alpha is very light, very fast  and because she was launched last November, I have plenty of time to  get it right before the race.

Torresen Sailing Site:  What qualities as a sailor do you possess that make you feel you can win the race ?

Single minded determination, stamina and a fanatical attention to detail.

Torresen Sailing Site:  Describe your training program ?

The original programme was designed on having the boat in the water a
year ahead of the race start but inevitable delays cut that down to  ten months. That's turned out to be something of an advantage because  I have cut out one of my long distance training runs and have  concentrated on short passages over the last couple of months to build  up familiarity with handling the boat. There's obviously a lot more
handling on short passages and coastal sailing. I am now setting off  on a two-way solo crossing of the Atlantic (to Charleston) and back  and will spend May and June carrying out a detailed refit before the  Atlantic Alone. I've also been studying weather routing and have had  one-to-one computer training on the on-board programs I am using.