Nigel Rose

I sailed cadets in Williamstown as a nipper, and have always enjoyed sailing off the beach with friends and whilst on holidays. With the chance to join a leg of this great voyage, I have been honing my skills to make sure that I can contribute in every way during my time on board and take full advantage of the opportunity of being at sea with Alan for a couple of weeks. I also hope that I can contribute in some way to the experience and learning for Jason and Donna. Even though I will be the second older head on board, they will both be able to teach me a thing or two about sailing Lively lady after their event-filled and rough passage from Sydney.

I am really looking forward to being a part of the trip. ’Sir Alec’ had a profound impact on me, both as a young man reading about my famous grandfather, and also meeting him in later life a number of times in the UK, and representing our family at his funeral. I plan to get my own boat in the next year, and carry on the Rose family tradition by introducing my own family to the joys of sailing.

Personally I work with a medical company as a consultant to surgeons who fix fractures. I have a beautiful Danish wife to whom I am indebted as she has supported me on this crazy idea right from the start. As the day gets closer I think we are both admitting to being a little nervous. I also have three amazing children, Anna-Sofie (8), Maia (6), and my 'mini-me' - Mattias (4). They are going to be a little sad to wave me off and I will hate being away from them.

For me, one of 4 proud grandsons, I have felt honoured to do some work on Lively Lady, and contribute to the team effort. I have rebuilt a forward cabin drawer, made new cockpit seats, and today repaired the engine cover, sanded the steps, and helped with some other small repairs. It’s been a wonderful experience to work on the boat that carried my grandfather around the world and I can’t wait to sail just part of the way in his footsteps.