Alan is planning to sail from Land's End to John O'Groats on his Eagle 20 carbon beach catamaran. Check out Spirit LeJog Challenge for all the information.
Alan is now the proud owner of an Eagle 20 Ocean, an all carbon catamaran. In the past he has owned and sailed a Hobie 14 and 17 Turbo, a Spitfire (Paranormal), a Shadow (called Hot Mango) and an Inter 20 (Spinal Frontier). Living in the south of the Lake District, Alan mainly used to sail on Coniston with his crew Pete. He developed his skills out in Vassiliki, Greece, with Wildwind. Having been spoilt by so much top quality sailing in Greece and because modern catamarans are so fast, even in light winds, Alan never sails in The Lake District now.
photos G Jones
Click here for Al's Long Distance Tales and here for events and results
Alan has been lucky enough to take part in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Sailing Marathon for People with a Disability in Greece. In the 3rd and 5th Marathon, Alan was lucky to have Darren Bundock (6 times Tornado World Champion and Olympic medallist) crewing for him on a Tornado Sport - pictured below. In the 8th he had Kostas Trigonis crewing for him.
photo P Makis: Al & Bundy in Greece
How does a
paraplegic manage to sail an unadapted catamaran?
Alan wears a trapeze harness and is then able to park his butt on the edge of the hull enabling him to fly a hull with the best of them.
photos P Makis: Al & Pete in Greece
How does he right from a capsize? Simple, he uses a righting frame.
NO WORRIES!
