Meet the Team
We are three couples, who have played together and sailed together for decades.
David Addey (Skipper): A retired broadcast engineer, David was an ARC participant in 2006 as a paying passenger on ‘Northern Child, a Swan 51. His ambition then was ‘not to be within sight of land or a fax machine’ on his 50th birthday (10th December). This year will be the tenth anniversary of that trip so another big birthday is coming up – where will he be for the celebrations this time? In 2015 David also crewed on ‘Shelena’, an Oyster 545 during the ARC+ for Philip and Helen Scourfield, a trip which proved to be invaluable for gaining useful experience for our voyage this year.
Skill which will be useful at sea: The ability to stay calm in a crisis (which hopefully won’t be needed!).
Skill which will be useless at sea: Being able to identify any car merely from its wheel arch.
Worry: Almost everything.
Vicki Addey: Vicki is a retired primary school teacher. David and Vicki are part way through a self-build house project but that has been put on hold temporarily in order to do the ARC. She plays the violin but also tries to squeeze a tune out of a wide variety of other instruments including a baritone horn, guitar and piano. David and Vicki have a son and a daughter aged 28 and 26.
Skill which will be useful at sea: The social secretary, Vicki has all sorts of ‘entertainment’ planned for the voyage.
Skill which will be useless at sea: Finding a connection with everyone she meets (aren’t we all just 7 handshakes away from anyone in the world?)
Worry: Being seasick.
Paul Blanchard: Paul has always been affectionately referred to by the Addey children as ‘The BFG’ but he is in fact, a retired computer bod. The Blanchards are co-owners of ‘Leda’, a Sun Charm Jeanneau 39 based in Greece. They also own ‘Red Cloud’, a Westerly Fulmar which is moored in the Solent. Paul is a founder and active member of the BURKS (Bath University Rochdale Keen Supporters – see www.theburks.org), a group established by Paul and some fellow students in the 1970s when Rochdale AFC were languishing at the bottom of the 4th Division and it was felt that they would appreciate some extra support from an unexpected source.
Skill which will be useful at sea: Paul is extremely practical and can fettle anything.
Skill which will be useless at sea: Fire breathing. (Not something David wants demonstrating anyhow!).
Worry: Will the food on passage be spicy enough? (We are carrying bottles of hot chilli sauce just in case).
Helen Blanchard: Helen is an ex secondary school maths teacher, now an educational consultant. Helen and Paul have a daughter and a son aged 28 and 27 and met the Addeys when the children were babies. They enjoyed family sailing holidays together with Sail France, taken as soon as the children were old enough to go in ‘Oppies’ and then graduated onto Neilson Villa/Flotilla holidays, before bareboating and finally boat ownership.
Skill which will be useful at sea: The ability to perform any task in the galley in any conditions.
Skill which will be useless at sea: Making curtains.
Worry: Will she want to return to work after the ARC?
Jon Cross: Jon works (loosely speaking) in IT related activities. Jon is the most experienced ocean sailor of us all having been a member of the crew on ‘Jamaica Lightning Bolt’ in the Clipper Round the World Race 2009-10, completing the legs from Yorkshire to Perth via La Rochelle, Rio and Cape Town. Jon and Fiona are ex co-owners of ‘More Mischief’, a Westerly Corsair which is based in Haslar.
Skill which will be useful at sea: Determining when the sun has passed the yardarm.
Skill which will be useless at sea: Running. Jon runs marathons in under 3 hours and in the last couple of years has completed four out of the big ‘six’ – London, Boston, Chicago and Berlin leaving just Tokyo and New York to be polished off after the ARC. In 2014 he finished 66th out of 1000 starters in the Marathon des Sables, a flurry of six marathons in five days around the Sahara Desert.
Worry: Monsters of the deep.
Fiona Cross: Fiona is a market analyst in the digital print industry. Fiona and Jon also have a son and a daughter aged 28 and 26 (a bit of a recurring theme here) and met Helen through the NCT when they were both expecting their first child. The Blanchards subsequently introduced the Crosses to the Addeys (the eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed by now that our surnames begin with A/B/C – very straightforward for compiling lists and rotas). Fiona is the reason we are all here; David was planning to do the ARC but Vicki had every intention of finding a faster mode of transport for crossing the Atlantic. One drunken evening Fiona declared that this was one of her ambitions and the rest as they say, is history.
Skill which will be useful at sea: Ability to keep smiling in most circumstances (let’s hope).
Skill which will be useless at sea: Making marmalade and playing bass guitar are probably top of the list.
Worry: Will she have packed enough pairs of sunglasses to last the trip?
Vicki Addey
David