Rob Nelson (Skipper)

Rob has spent most of his life messing about in boats with varying degrees of chaos and failure (his best mate told me that) .  He is a natural born helmsman and sailor and grew up in Wolverhampton (well someone had to say it and you cant hold it against him!).  Rob is a very quiet and very calm and instils full confidence into his crew.  He loves sailing and can be found out in the Solent most weekends.  This year Rob is not only competing in the Fastnet but also entering as one of the sailors for the Three Peaks Yacht Race on JourneyMaker 5 (a J105).  He must be mad!

Alex Dunn

I've only been sailing for five years but enjoy it so much I hate being away from the water!  I found the sport after joining a Comp Crew course to bump up some numbers with a friend.  Since then I've racked up over 8,000 sea miles and now run the cruising events section of my local yacht sailing club - The Royal Berkshire Yacht Club.

My sailing experience includes cruising, whilst learning to skipper myself, round the cans racing on a J105, and offshore racing.  A lot of that sailing has been with Mark Lee, Rob (our skipper) & Tim.

As with some of the others, my main motivation for completing the race this year follows the disappointment of not managing to finish in 2007.  I was very much a passenger last time though and it has slowly dawned since I had the bright idea, that I might have to take some responsibility this year!

Mark Lee

Mark grew up with sailing every summer holiday.  His best ever Christmas present is still the Mirror dinghy his Father and Grandfather secretly built for him and his brother.  Has cruised in destinations from the Western Isles to the Med. and raced round-the-cans in dinghies, Etchells keelboats and yachts.  Introduced to the  discipline of offshore racing by the hardcore crew of JourneyMaker, and enjoyed its test of seamanship and mental discipline against the elements.

Motivated by the unfinished business of 2 years ago, Mark is excited to be stepping up to the watch leader role this time around.

David Parr

Dave is a keen cruising yachtsman and power boater (we don't hold that against him - he likes speed!).  Dave is our resident Diesel engine expert.  Having been on the RYA Diesel course the weekend before our non race to Le Havre, Dave was found up to his elbows in grease and diesel all day on the Saturday of our 'race' putting his new found skills to use fixing our broken engine!  He is also our very own gadget man bringing with him a multitude of useful (and some not so useful) tools with him.  

Mark Green

Another crew member from the West Midlands.  Mark is a keen dinghy sailor and competes in his Laser.  Mark joined the crew having only been out on a yacht a couple of times for cruising weekends but is up for the challenge and is not afraid to get stuck in.  His cooking skills will serve us well if the last couple meals he brought us are anything to go by.

Tim Lucas

Tim has sailed with skipper Rob, Alex and Mark L. for a number of years - including the Fastnet 2007. The disappointment of retirement from the Race 2007 is the motivation for attempting the challenge again this year. Tim has twice completed the Three Peaks Yacht Race in 2006 & 2007. By strange coincidence, Tim is also shares Black Country origins with Rob and Mark G.