Meet the Team
Meet "Hilary's Dream" Team
Toby May - Project Manager
Toby May bravely took on the Project Manager’s job for Hilary’s Round Britain Dream last March, having come to talk to Hilary about driving a RIB a fortnight previously. He was originally led to believe that there was a small hill to climb, but quickly discovered it was actually Mount Everest! To make matters worse he had only recently been released from a 6 month (voluntary) stay in an institution on the Isle of Wight - the UK Sailing Academy (UKSA) - with his Oceanmaster’s ticket in his pocket only to find himself back in Cowes and living in the same building. Despite a winter spent fiddling with boats in the cold (and sometimes dark) along with "boot-camp" like living conditions, Hilary still hasn't managed to shake him off! Toby has day to day control of the project and will make the ultimate decision as to whether we sail based on the prevailing conditions.
Paul Taroni - Shoreside Manager
Paul “No. 7” Taroni proved his use last year as our shore based coordinator and is once again sacrificing much to join us again this year, once again leaving most of his personal grooming items back in Kent! He survived, and passed, the short range marine VHF operator’s course. Having never been near a boat before, and being scared of water to boot, he learned fast, getting to know the Mermaid engine on the RIB almost as well as our RIB drivers. Paul claims to be looking forward to driving a motorhome which in turn pulls the 5 berth caravan up and down a very steep hill on the way out of Dover. He assures me that he only nearly jack-knifed a lorry once, and that it was at least 10 miles away from the hill he is worried about! He also liases with the Lions clubs of Britain and Ireland, who provide fantastic support for us on land.
Simon Robinson - Principal RIB Driver
Simon was told by someone that he "looks like a power ranger" in his drysuit. As they are universally unflatteringing, Hilary suspects that it was the lady in the shop trying to sell him the only one they had in stock which fitted! He does, however, have a neon hat to offset any effect of superhero-status. He's cleaned and got to grips with the workings of the Mermaid engine, which has just had its service, and with the extraordinarily huge parbuckle (roll mat). In a couple of days he can throw Hilary in Dover harbour and then he'll find out why our parbuckle is so big! Simon and Huw have both spent time in the same institution on the Isle of Wight as Toby.
Huw Fernie - RIB Driver
“Silicon” Huw has a cracking sense of ‘Huwmour’ & yesterday we’re sure we caught him spreading silicone rubber on his toast. As a result we suspect that he soon won't need his ‘unsuperhero-like dry suit as he’ll just bounce dry! He has done battle with Canadian electronics (no mean feat when you've never seen anything like them before, let alone all this sip-puff stuff) and has just about lived to tell the tale! He is this year's lightest and, we hope, lithest member of the wet crew. With the extra-sticky boots we use we all hope that he'll soon be bouncing from RIB to "Me Too" and back again as if he had been born to it.
Jo Meakins - Carer/Driver
Jo “Don’t Care” Meakins had never considered a job in caring until she saw an advert on Gumtree which promised "the opportunity of a lifetime (honest!)". Fortunately she found her way to the interview where we quickly noticed that she was possibly less than entirely sane and signed her up! So far the job has involved a lot more cleaning and strange clothing (all sailing kit) than she had envisaged, but she's bearing up well. You would never know that she wasn't a born "don't carer" (Hilary thinks these are generally the best sort) and, after 3 days, we were all wondering how we coped without her. Now we’re 6 days in to crew training she can’t remember what she did before RBD entered her life!
Terry Shaw - Driver
So far Terry “Ramsay” Shaw has driven just about everything short of an HGV, until being told how to pack shopping drove him out of a reliable job and into this one! He’s beginning to discover just what he’s let himself in for (there's a temperamental Land Rover with a 2 ton RIB on the back, for starters). He’s also turned out to be an excellent cook, so he may have made a rod for his own back! So far he's learned the workings of the man-riding winch, not a simple operation when you have Hilary's weight (and life) on the end of the line and been taken out to get wet in the RIB (RBD's version of an initiation test) which he seemed to love.
Seán Cassidy
We press ganged Seán "The Leprechaun" in Arklow which, to be honest, wasn’t all that hard once we had “forced” a couple of pints of Guinness into him! The result was that he thought we were a group of perfectly nice, if slightly insane, people… This meant that when Simon had to go home for a week it was ridiculously easy to persuade him come and join our sailing circus for a few days. As it is we’ve managed to hang on to him for 3 sails and we’re hoping that he will come back soon. Apparently he’s a teacher, but none of us ever had teaches who were: A) as tall as him, B) as funny as him or C) quite as mad as him :-) !
Rory Murphy - Volunteer RIB Driver
We met the entire Murphy family in Ardglass, and it was quickly obvious to both Jo and Hilary (who met him first) that Rory would fit into the team easily as he was just mildly obsessed with sailing and ever so slightly insane, a trait that seems to run through most of the crew... Unfortunately Hilary's speech system thinks Rory sounds like Maureen so it's possible that he will obtain an unwanted nickname, at least in her blogs! He has come to join us for a week and has brought the Irish weather with him as we are storm bound at the moment.
Richard Gaskell - Volunteer RIB Driver
Richard "wings" Gaskell is the only person ever to have got SUB airborne, quite a feat when she weighs over a tonne! From what I gathered she came down with quite a splash. Richard flew up to Scotland as soon as he knew we needed a driver and then made himself quickly indispensable. Richard and his wife run Westbere Sailing Opportunities and, as such, is largely responsible for the fact that I have now been let loose on the British Isles!
Brian Sinnott - Volunteer RIB Driver
We met Brian "Winslet" Sinnott in Wicklow and he volunteered to do "anything he could" for The Dream Trust. Consequently when we needed a RIB driver for the last 10 days he was quickly volunteered for the job. He is a member of Wicklow RNLI. They were especially quick to say he could come over to England, which should have given us some sort of a clue... He's done the best "Titanic" impression on the RIB so far, hence the nickname, and is clearly a sandwich short of a picnic (something which, oddly, seems to run through the entire team)!
Gillian Perry - Volunteer Shore Team Member
We needed someone to drive the camper van for the last few sails. Gill joined us in Wells next the Sea and had to adapt incredibly quickly as we made her share a bed with Jo then got her up at 3.30 AM on her first morning for a sail that we had to cancel after my systems check showed we had a problem. She is an expert driver and has taken to driving the 8m camper van like a duck to water. She's a great giggler so meal times have become livelier. She also turns out to be rather a good cook, something which never goes down badly...
Lotti - Team Mascot
Lotti is Hilary's helper dog or perhaps, being a Labrador more of a "help herself" dog. She hates pontoons but does like being in boats and with people. Unfortunately for her there's not enough space under the foredeck of Hilary's adapted Artemis 20 for her to come sailing, but she seems happy enough to tag along with the ground crew. There are far more people she can impress with her beautiful behaviour(?) and good looks. She also finds she gets more treats from people who aren't Hilary, although someone has told everyone that she has to work for them.
Page last updated on 26 August 2009 at 17:50