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We are taking on one of the world’s toughest endurance races to create opportunities for children on the Isle of Wight.
Our goals are: to raise over £100,000 for the Seaview Sailing Trust, and to complete the Three Peaks Yacht Race 2025 (safely).
The Seaview Sailing Trust. Provides FREE sailing lessons for primary school children on the Isle of Wight, getting children out on the water who would not normally have that opportunity. The Trust has already delivered thousands of free sailing lessons and is making a big impact, helping to build confidence, develop skills, broaden horizons and change children's lives .
In 2023 The Seaview Sailing Trust worked with 11 primary schools offering lessons to over 350 children. Each lesson costs £32 per child, and a whole summer term costs £320. The children arrive never having been in a sailing boat and leave with their RYA Level 1 or 2 certificates. The aim now is to extend the programme to get more island children into boats.
By raising £100K for the SST, we will be able to get hundreds more children into boats and set them up for a future out on the water.
The Three Peaks Yacht Race 2025. Starts Barmouth, Wales tbc, finishes Fort William, Scotland, ~5 days later. Ranked among the ten toughest endurance races in the world, it’s been a classic adventure race for teams of runners and sailors since 1977. A team of 5 people will sail and row 389 miles up the wild West Coast, dropping off 2 elite athletes to cycle, run and climb over 16,500 feet up and down Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis, the highest peaks of the UK.
The Sailing Mountaineers: We are a group of friends brought together by a shared passion for sailing, adventure and the Isle of Wight. We were all lucky enough to learn how to sail on the Isle of Wight as young children and have been benefitting from that experience ever since. Sailing has provided us all with so many opportunities: friendships, skills, self-confidence, adventure, work, travel & community. We hope that by raising money for the SST we can help to open the door to these opportunities for children all over the Isle of Wight.
Team members: Phil French, Tim Wakefield, Matt Glasgow, Jo Farquhar, Henry Cecil, Will de Laszlo, Patricia Mitchell, Jimbo Mitchell, Claire Cecil
The challenge in detail: The Three Peaks Yacht Race 2025 is ranked among the ten toughest endurance races in the world. Pip Hare, solo round the world sailor, won line honours with Team Aperito in 2016 and described the race as
‘a feat of incredible endurance from beginning to end: sailing rowing, running, cycling, navigating, weather routing and strategy , all mixed with sleep deprivation’.
Teams of four or five per yacht sail from Barmouth to Fort William, with two of the crew climbing the highest mountains of Wales, England and Scotland en route. The land stages to Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis involve running 54.8 miles, cycling 40 miles, and climbing 16,500 feet in 3 or 4 action packed days. The sailing is approx. 389 sea miles. Use of engines is not allowed, except for safety reasons in specific areas in ports. However, a unique feature of the race is that rowing is allowed!
Barmouth to Caernarfon and Snowdon. The first leg starts from Barmouth, yachts sail approximately 62 sea miles, past Bardsey Island and the Llyn Peninsula, over Caernarfon Bar and arrive at Caernarfon Pier. A compulsory five-minute kit check by marshals is carried out before the runners set off to the summit of Snowdon via the Ranger Path and return via Llanberis, a distance of 24.5 miles.
Caernarfon to Whitehaven and Scafell Pike. Here crews can opt to sail around the Isle of Anglesey or continue, under sail only, through the difficult waters of the Menai Straits. After a further sail of approximately 100 sea miles yachts arrive at the marina in Whitehaven. This is the longest land leg of the race, the distance to Scafell Pike and back via Ennerdale being some 53 miles, so bicycles are allowed for the 40 mile return trip to Black Sail Youth Hostel. The ride is via a cycle path, country road and forestry track and racers leave their bikes at Black Sail Youth Hostel before setting off on foot to cross Black Sail Pass to Wasdale Head. Here they will be met by friendly marshals at Wasdale Head Hotel, this time with food and drink! Runners then proceed to the summit of Scafell Pike and return to their yacht via the same route.
Whitehaven to Fort William and Ben Nevis. This sailing leg is a distance of approximately 227 sea miles rounding the Mull of Kintyre and into the Sound of Jura, through beautiful scenery but with many tidal gates to negotiate. The race finishes just north of Fort William at Corpach, at the entrance to the Caledonian Canal where the sailing is over and skippers can lock in to Corpach Basin and lie alongside. The runners, after checking in with the marshals, set off to the summit of Ben Nevis, which is a 17.8 mile return trip. The race is finished when the runners return and cross the finish line.
Even more information on the challenge: