Fred Ferner, Nick Rees, Paul Dobson, Andrew Lintern, Bob Anderson and Chris Bloomer are all working at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories (RAL) in Oxfordshire, and we spend most of our time together in heated discussion over which field of science is the best. When not fighting about over the merits of neutrons vs photons, we'll be competing in this years IDOR in order to raise money for the Ocean Youth Trust South.

OYTS is a charity which provides young people between 12-25 with different backgrounds with an opportunity to experience sailing. This include disadvantaged kids, as well as young people from all backgrounds.

Fred is a volunteer watch leader for OYTS:

"The goal is to use sailing to experience situations outside the normal range, while keeping safe and happy. The young people are taking part in every activity on the boat including sailing the boat, navigation, watchkeeping and also cooking and cleaning. 

I find it very rewarding to see how the young people gain self confidence, learn to work as a team and so on over the course of a voyage."

Only about 50% of the cost to run the 72 foot ketch is covered by berth sales, with the other 50% provided by charitable donations.