WHILE the world enjoys the Christmas holidays a professional sailor from Redditch will be racing across the southern ocean in the world famous Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
The event is all part of the preparations Nick Joyce from Headless Cross is making before tackling the international Mini Transat 2017 event – racing solo across the Atlantic Ocean in yachts measuring just 21ft in length.
Nick plans to not only become the first Briton ever to win the race but also to use it as a stepping stone to competing in the Vendee Globe non-stop, single handed round the world yacht race in 2020 – widely regarded as the Everest of sailing challenges.
Nick, aged 26, is one of the rising stars of British yacht racing although growing up in Redditch his outings were restricted to trips on Arrow Valley Lake and sailing his dad’s 16ft catamaran.
However after leaving Alcester Grammar School he pursued a career in professional yachting gaining recognition for raw talent and confidence.
Now based at Cowes on the Solent he has established himself as a reliable and capable crew member, racing with some of the top teams in world yachting.
For the Mini Transat Nick will be racing in the Classe Mini prototype fleet in his Mini 6.50 named ‘Señor Blu’ – a truly optimised full carbon fibre yacht with a race winning pedigree, regularly reaching speeds of 30 knots.
“With this boat having a fantastic race record, well built and extremely fast, I am confident of achieving my first target of becoming the first Brit to win the Mini Transat in 2017,” he said.
The youngest RYA Yachtmaster Instructor ever certified, Nick has skippered three transatlantic crossings and navigated for several successful Fastnet campaigns.
For a lad from Redditch he’s certainly making waves on the high seas: “Salt water is in my veins,” he said.
The Redditch Standard aims to follow Nick’s adventures on the high seas – look out for more articles in the new year.
