British Sailor
Adventurer & Speaker
A Bit About Alan
Alan was born 7th April 1953 on a council estate in Portsmouth.
From a young age he would always take off and look for what he could not see. In later life he adopted the saying “Beyond the Horizon” He knows what he can see but he is always looking for what he cannot see.
A First-Generation Mod, Hippy, and businessman he left school at the age of 15 with the only qualifications of woodwork and sailing so he became an apprentice boatbuilder.
Although his life has been about boats and adventure and the knowledge he gained in the workplace he knew he didn’t want to work for anyone so left to start his own business when he was 17.
This engineering company has been the backbone of his life as an adventurer, humanitarian and his charity work and is now run by his eldest son James.
A passion for going around in ever-increasing circles and being on the water since the age of 8 he saved hard and purchased his own boat and when he was 11 took it all the way around Portsea Island. From this, the circles got bigger and bigger which ultimately ended crossing every ocean-going around the world in both directions.
His expeditions, humanitarian work along with his scientific work has seen him being awarded a raft of impressive accolades. He is the current holder of 37 official world records, 18 national records, three-lifetime achievements, fellowships, honorary memberships of a selection of the most prestigious clubs in the world, and more lately the Honorary Doctorate from the University of Portsmouth for everything he has done especially in is scientific and environmental work.
He started and runs his own Children’s Charity for disadvantaged young adults in the UK and funds and built a school in Northern India for kids that normally would not get the opportunity to go to learn. This came about when he was asked by Rotary International if he could train and lead a team of four woman for a month’s visit to Bihar as part of the Gates foundation.
He was sat in a village with the elders and asked what they would like, and they replied a shelter for the children to play in during the rainy season. He teamed up with the local Rotary Club and they built a school, community centre, a small medical centre and the next stage is a library This work is on-going and what started off small over 1000 children have benefited from what he put in place. The only thing he asked in return for his help was they picked up all their litter and kept the village rubbish free.
On a personal level he admits to probably being married too many times, has looked down the barrel of too many guns, thrown into jail in far in too many countries for not wanting to pay bribes to the wrong person. He has a natural skill in making friends with the most unlikely people in the world ranging from gangsters in Japan, Drug Lords in Guatemala, members of the Indian Royal Family and quite a few global politicians. He puts all this down to his smile and ability to read situations.
So here you have it, someone who has achieved an awful lot and continues to push the boundaries of everything he gets involved to the limits and sometimes beyond but always for the right reasons.
What next for Alan?
Alan is the man and driving force in charge of Spirit of Challenge. An ambitious attempt to bring the World Record back to Great Britain while demonstrating and proving the revolutionary fuel he has designed can massively help the restoration of the planet. The Record originally set by Cable & Wireless in 1998 he attempted to break this record in 2002.
He had to abandon the attempt with only three days to go to the finish line when his Crew mate and brother in law suffered a massive heart attack mid Atlantic. All thoughts of the record were immediately dismissed while Alan and Clive took it in turns to keep Steve Lloyd alive for 8.5 hours before the emergency helicopter could get to them. Steve made a full recovery and is intending to re-join the crew to finish off that “little” bit of business. The record is currently held by a team from New Zealand although controversially they did not cross the Equator.
Full Circle
I have spent my life looking for the next adventure and this one really is a BIG ONE.
I have named the Project Full Circle because I believe everything does come back to where it started. The hardest part of any project is getting to the start line and there have been times outside influences have almost broke me. But although I may have gone quiet, I have never given in and have taken every set back and every challenge presented to me with commitment and fortitude to finish what I started.
After eight years having to deal with a pandemic, wars political upheaval and a selection not particularly nice people I have done it, the amazing Superboat is ready to take on the World. A huge number of supporters and long-term sponsors have made this possible and I can now announce the next challenge in full detail. (Full Circle Deck)
The Superboat has been designed and constructed for this Challenge, and it is engineering perfection. It is bold, challenging and exciting all at the same time and with the network of Global support I have put together I know we will be successful in this challenge.
As I first mention. “What goes around, comes around” The Countdown has started
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