Introducing the crew

Skipper

John Simkins

The Captain of our crew, John is a Master Mariner who has spent nearly his whole life in or around boats and ships.  For John, crossing the Atlantic under sail has been a life-long ambition and following his retirement earlier this year the ARC has been right at the top of his to do list.  John and his wife Linda own Maximillian, their long sought-after Amel Maramu, and plan to keep her in the Carribbean following the crossing to explore the waters there.

Crew member

Mark Simkins

Mark is the eldest son and also a captain, though of the flying variety.  Working as a contractor to the Army, Mark assesses the ability of pilot  candidates and identifies whether they have the capability to become Army pilots.  Last year Mark put Prince Harry through Army Flying Grading and his photograph ended up in Hello magazine!  Mark is married to Hema who will be flying over to St. Lucia to meet us on our arrival.

Crew member

Katharine Simkins

Second eldest of the Simkins children, Katharine is a primary school teacher and part-time film-maker.  She will be bringing her camera on our adventure so watch out for clips in our blogs.  Katharine has recently been teaching children how to make their own short films and who knows, maybe one day one of her film kids will be attending the Oscars!  Katharine helped to bring Maximillian down from Gibraltar to Las Palmas in an eventful  6-day voyage, the Atlantic crossing will be her longest non-stop trip to date.

Crew member

Tristan Simkins

The youngest, – and yet tallest – of our sailing crew, Tristan works for the RAF.  Used to hurtling around in his TVR, Tristan will have to adjust to a more sedate 8 knots aboard Maximillian!  Tristan has experience of sailing in the Caribbean with the RAF, who have been very supportive of his participation in the ARC.  He has also arrived in the Caribbean from the Falkland Islands onboard a Royal Naval frigate and has explored some of the Atlantic on an aircraft carrier – all this making him super-qualified for our adventure.

Shore-based support

Linda Simkins

Co-owner of Maximillian and wife of our Captain, Linda will be acting as our shore-based support during the ARC. Linda thought it prudent to fly to St. Lucia rather than enduring the night shifts, rolling seas and minimal washing facilities – all sounding very sensible! She will be in Las Palmas during the week prior to departure to help provision the boat and wave us off. Hopefully Linda will also arrive before us in St. Lucia to line up the rum punches!

Foxy's cousin - Roxy

Roxy

The newest member of our crew, Roxy is cousin to the Foxhills Infant School mascot Foxy.  Roxy met Katharine when she was teaching at Foxhills and is delighted to have been accepted as part of Maximillian’s crew.  Despite being a novice sailor, Roxy loves an adventure and to our knowledge she will be the first fox to cross the Atlantic as part of the ARC.

Home crew

Beth and Phillippa Simkins

Unfortunately unable to get enough time off work to take part in the ARC, Beth and Phillippa will be serving as our home crew for the duration of the ARC, taking care of things in the UK.  We understand that one of their most important duties is to defrost the turkey in time for Christmas!  Beth is the older twin by 8 minutes and works as senior matron at a boarding school while Phillippa also works  in the skies as cabin crew for British Airways.  We will miss them onboard Maximillian!