Young sailing duo aim to smash three world records and support two charities

Young sailing duo aim to smash three world records and support two charities

Two young sailors are aiming to beat three world records and raise money for charity by sailing around the British mainland in a 20ft Catamaran.

Joshua O’Brien, 26, from Stourbridge and his long term sailing partner, Sam Barker, 25, will set off this spring in an attempt to break the records and raise money for the Stroke Association and Macmillan Cancer Support.

The pair, known as Team Wildgybe, have won multiple national sailing titles over the years and will try to beat the record for fastest time to circumnavigate mainland Britain in an open dinghy– a record which stands at 15 days and 4 hours, set last year. They will also attempt the records for furthest sailed on a double-handed dinghy and the greatest distance travelled in 12 hours too.

The pair decided to use the challenge to raise money for the Stroke Association after Josh’s Grandfather had a stroke last year which left him unable to move his right-hand side. Sadly, two of Josh’s other family members have also been battling cancer in 2019.

Josh said: “My Grandad, had a stroke last October while out shopping. It was actually so fortunate he was in a shop, as he just wanted to go home to bed when it happened but the store manager insisted he called an ambulance.

“He has been a carpenter all his life and always been very hands-on with gardening and taking the dog on long walks too, so to see this change in him is really hard. Luckily, he is getting a bit better and is getting back to doing certain things. He is a massive inspiration.

“We’re so excited about this challenge and raising awareness about stroke as much as we can. We’ve been planning it for a while now so we just want to get going. We want to thank Fluid Boat Services, a long term friend who runs multihull sailing and coaching, who are lending us an amazing boat! We would also like to thank Nacra Sailing for supporting us on this challenge. This is just the start - once we get these three world records we want to continue building the awareness by breaking further records!”

Joanne Burr, Regional Fundraising Manager at the Stroke Association said: “On behalf of everyone at the Stroke Association, we want to wish Josh and Sam the best of luck in their world record attempts.

“There are 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK living with devastating wide-ranging disabilities. The Stroke Association provides specialist support, funds critical research and campaigns to make sure people affected by stroke get the very best care and support to rebuild their lives. We really couldn’t do this without the support of people like Josh and Sam, so we want to thank them both.”

You can support Team Wildgybe’s challenge by visiting - https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=TeamWIldgybe&isTeam=true and for more information please visit https://www.wildgybe.com/

ENDS

For more information, please contact Ken Scott, PR & Media Officer at the Stroke Association at ken.scott@stroke.org.uk or 0115 7788429