NOWCREW FOR THE ARC 2005

Andrew Cheetham.  Me well you all know me. I’ve given this project my all so you’ll have to forgive me if I’m a little stressed and grumpy in the run up to and the first few days of the race .I can be a little sulky when things go wrong (wouldn’t you be?) however I soon snap out of it.

Ron Cheetham. What Ron doesn’t know about boats isn’t worth knowing. Watch out for Ron’s Y-fronts, which dwarf him in size, they’re washed daily and hung proudly to dry. If the trolling line technique doesn’t produce a catch. We can always drag Ron’s pants behind the boat

Tom “The Pipes Faulkner”. Tom has been a great friend of the Cheetham family for as long as I can remember and no trip would be complete without him. Tom will be piping us out of Gran Canaria and into St Lucia. A word of warning for the boat chefs: Tom has to eat his body weight in food everyday if not he becomes mutinous and eventually cannibalistic.

Andy Nickson. Nicko Ship’s builder anything that needs hammering, banging or thumping Nicko’s your man. Nicko has never been seasick probably because he’s never been sober. He’s treating this trip as a trip to the Betty Ford clinic-a time to dry out, take stock and discover that there may be more to life than the Dog and Partridge on Saturday night.

Ian Bailey. “Bails” A budding chef who became legendary on the Malta trip for his “nouvelle cuisine” portions. Having learnt the lesson that a man afloat eats twice that of a man ashore Bails is looking forward to providing some hearty meals.

Charles Readman. “Charlie or Chas”. Charlie and I have sailed together off and on for 20 years competing in some seriously hard races. He’s the ship’s diver. Charles talks non-stop and will keep everyone amused with his unique sense of humour.

Simon Crutchly. Simon works for Sunbird the Beneteau dealer we bought the boat from. Simon’s the man all fingers will point to if something goes wrong and ultimately the first man to be eaten if something goes seriously wrong.