GERRY HUGHES NO CHALLENGE TOO GREAT
If it hadn’t been for Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, there is a chance that Gerry Hughes’ dream to sail around the world might have gone unfulfilled.
The Scottish sailor, who was born profoundly deaf, was struggling to find insurance for his double-handed sail around the British Isles with deaf sailor Matthew Jackson.
‘Being deaf meant I couldn’t get insurance. I remember one person saying that I must have a hearing person in my crew. I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to show that deaf people have the ability. I didn’t want hearing people to help me,’ he said.
His ‘big breakthrough’ came when he met Sir Robin at the bar at Troon marina, and explained his dilemma via written notes. The following morning Sir Robin handed him a note which read, ‘Use my name for your insurance. Go sail round Great Britain. Good luck.’
‘Without Sir Robin’s support, I would never have been able to experience sailing in the great oceans of the world. My life would have been very different,’
