John has been passionately involved in outdoor pursuits (as it was referred to then) since his school days in Plymouth and Bedford. Upon leaving school John trained as a physical education teacher with additional subject specialism in special needs education at King Alfred’s College in Winchester, now Winchester University.
With a career in Outdoor Education spanning over 40 years, John has been involved as teacher, instructor, trainer, coach and manager in a variety of organisations in the UK and overseas delivering climbing, hill walking, kayaking, canoeing, dinghy sailing, powerboating, yachting and windsurfing.
John has worked in special schools, secondary schools, and local authority outdoor education centres in Hampshire and Southampton and has been involved a wide variety of what is more widely referred to now as adventure education.
Having retired as Head of Outdoor Centres for Southampton City Council in 2007 John was appointed as the Royal Yachting Association’s (RYA) National Sailing Coach, a position he held for three years until joining a professional short-handed yacht racing team, The Artemis Offshore Academy, as performance director.
Freelance work followed with involvement in selection and training for the successful Dongfeng Volvo Ocean Race team, examining RYA Yachtmaster candidates, management training tutoring, centre inspections for AALS and a consultancy role as Sailing Manager for the Royal Yacht Squadron.
John is an RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Instructor and Examiner and still sails and races regularly with friends and family.