Meet Clipper 2017-18 Race skipper Tristan Brooks
by Clipper Round the World on 28 Mar 2017
Clipper 2017-18 Race skipper Tristan Brooks Clipper Round The World Yacht Race
http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com
Tristan Brooks first took to the water at the age of ten, spending his childhood fine tuning his dinghy skills on the Menai Strait in North Wales, and has spent the past 13 years working as a professional skipper, mate and engineer.
During his expansive yachting career, Tristan has developed wide-ranging experience and knowledge of sailing yachts and superyachts all over the world and has numerous Atlantic and Pacific Ocean crossings under his belt.
The 34-year-old, who was born in Bangor, is particularly looking forward to passing on his knowledge and experience to his future crew: “A Skipper is only as good as his or her crew so a combination of active training and self-improvement is really important to me. I plan to delegate responsibilities between the crew so that everybody is involved.
Throughout Tristan’s career, there have been a number of different role models who have inspired him to be where he is today “I could name lots of childhood heroes but I am very lucky to have incredibly supportive parents and some amazing friends. Pete Goss is one of my heroes for his Corinthian spirit.”
Despite his determined mindset, safety is always at the forefront of Tristan’s mind: “I want to lead the winning Clipper Race team and my duty of care to vessel and crew is essential to achieve this.”
Over the years, Tristan has led a large number of diverse crews with varying levels of experience. His top tips for future Clipper Race crew members are: “Rest when you can, look after your hands and look after each other. It is a team effort.”
Speaking about which parts of the Clipper Race he is most looking forward to, Tristan says “The Southern Ocean, arriving in Sydney and transiting the Panama Canal will all definitely be race highlights
'The Southern Ocean because it will be great to see the yacht surfing fast down the waves, Sydney because I have some friends there that I've not seen in a long time and Panama because I was due to take a boat there many years ago but unfortunately had to divert during the delivery.'
As well as an experienced ocean sailor, Tristan is PADI rescue diver qualified and a voluntary worker for the conservation of coral in the Philippines.
Five things about Tristan:
• My favourite song is: A Day in the Life by The Beatles.
• My most overused emoji is: The winking face.
• My favourite meal to cook at sea is: Freshly caught Dorado or Tuna. Lightly seared.
• If I had one superpower, it would be: To cure suffering.
• My most memorable moment at sea was: Quite early on in my yachting career, during my second Transatlantic crossing. A Minke Whale thought our 38ft catamaran was a potential mate! I won’t go into the details but it was certainly memorable!
We are introducing one of our twelve Clipper Race Skippers every day. Look out for Chris Kobusch's profile tomorrow to discover more about his sailing career, his favourite word and his nickname.
To read more about our twelve Clipper 2017-18 Skippers, click here.
Want to race the world’s oceans? There are limited berths on board the Clipper 2017-18 Race due to start this August. To secure your place, apply here.
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