On completion of her 10,000 miles North Atlantic voyage, Aventura was exhibited at the Miami boat show.
Aventura
Having won the two most prestigious sailing awards in the United States – Cruising World Boat of the Year, and SAIL Best Boat 2015 – she attracted a large number of visitors.
Among the visitors were many old friends, some of whom I had not seen for many years. The last time I saw Toby Fletcher was 30 years ago in the Grenadines when he joined his family yacht Duen as she was completing a 17 year long world voyage.
Duen
Toby and Albert Fletcher
Having spent his childhood and youth on board a yacht Toby has made sailing his career and is now a qualified ship’s captain.
Jimmy Cornell with Toby Fletcher
Someone who is determined to follow in Toby’s wake is Harry Horgan. When he was 22, he was flung out of a car door; the fall broke his back and injured his spinal cord. Being paraplegic has not stopped him from enjoying his passion for sailing, but he is also determined to help others with disabilities to do the same.
Harry Horgan of Shake-A-Leg
As the founder and president of the Shake-A-Leg charitable organisation, Harry has helped hundreds of people with disabilities to enjoy sailing. His most ambitious project is to sail a specially adapted 60-foot catamaran to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. A first step in that direction is to plot a route… with the help of the atlas I dedicated to him.
