Hello
Here is a bit more about Iain, you can follow him on linkedin or instagram below and scroll down for more info with relevance to Astra.
Our skipper: Iain
Iain has been preparing for the challenge of a circumnavigation for many years. He joined the Merchant Marine 34 years ago, at the age of 16 and, after a career on much larger ships and tankers, he 5 years ago turned his attention to smaller craft. At that time he decided that what he needed to take on any ocean was a steel built motor boat.
between 2017-20 Iain extensively sailed a 16m motor boat as a prototype to help develop the exact requirements for the most capable seagoing boat of 24m in length!
The boat that met that spec was ASTRA and, in 2018, Dag Pike, who managed the 1980s Virgin Atlantic Challenge team described Astra as “capable of taking on the worlds oceans and coming out on top”.
Iain could not agree more!
In 2021, Iain skippered ASTRA over 9,000 NM from the Canary Islands (where she spent the winter) to as far north as the Arctic Circle and on to her previous home port in Sweden, where she was used to facilitate onboard reviews of a new Passage Planning Guide for the Baltic that will be published in 2022.
Iain knows he has found the most capable vessel on the planet at 24m in length (mega yacht size) and the crew to complement her!