Stormbreaker Background

Stormbreaker
Peter and Sarah Shaw
Wed 21 Jan 2015 16:18

Sarah, Peter and Stormbreaker came together in January 2015 and have been learning about each other ever since. Based in Falmouth Marina, they visited South West harbours during the summer with a couple of trips to Jersey, Sarah’s birthplace.

They purchased Stormbreaker with a plan to circumnavigate. Autumn and winter months have been occupied with ongoing maintenance and upgrades to Stormbreaker to ensure she is “blue water “ready.

In November Sarah decided to organise a week away to give them a break, Lanzarote beckoned and as is normal on any of their holidays, a trip to the local Marina was a must. Fate intervened as they noticed the Atlantic Odyssey flags on a number of boats – they made some enquiries and spent the next couple of days attending the really useful seminars hosted by Jimmy and the team.

The warmth and camaraderie displayed by the 2015 Atlantic Odyssey participants and Jimmy’s team convinced them that to join the 2016 would be a really good idea- they signed Stormbreaker up for the Barbados 50.

Peter is not without Rally experience, in a former life with two up in the Moody Yacht “Tomodachi�, he participated in the 2002 Blue Water Round the World Rally. A fantastic experience which sadly ended in New Zealand when his wife became ill.

Sarah, took up sailing when she met Peter in 2010, and has already clocked up much sea time – some in warm Aegean waters and many in chilly channel chop!

Two sets of families get to tell their friends that they have adventurous parents – Sarah has three daughters and a son, all mad keen surfers and all North Cornwall dwellers. 7 grandchildren require a selection of small sized lifejackets on Stormbreaker in case of visits.

Peter has a daughter and three grandchildren-2 boys and a girl  –  all able to wear “grown up“ lifejackets.

The extended family are only occasional visitors on board Stormbreaker with only one as a possible crew for part of the Barbados 50!

Noteworthy sailing experiences: during a return trip from Jersey last summer at 03.00 mid channel Stormbreaker experienced a close encounter with a huge Tug towing and enormous drilling rig – the complex array of lights providing a welcome respite during the dark night.

Stormbreaker will be joining the Barbados 50 from Falmouth and once in the Caribbean the plan is to join the World ARC 2017/18 for her circumnavigation.

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