Epic five-year dinghy challenge completed
Dinghy sailor Ken Fowler has completed an epic challenge to sail around every English and Welsh island – all 262 of them – raising funds for charities close to his heart.
Ken’s final challenge was a 13-hour slog around the Isle of Wight in June and he was greeted on the beach afterwards by a group of cheering supporters.
Ken’s unique island challenge began in 2018, aiming to raise £50,000 for Cancer Research and his local Oakhaven Hospice in Lymington. The tally is now more than £64,000 – and the donation pages are still open.
The fundraising was inspired by the death of his father, from cancer, when Ken was 24, and the fact that six of Ken’s close family members have been killed by cancer.
RS Aero sailor Ken, 57, a retired air traffic controller from Dorset, gathered a huge crowd for his talks at the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show in February this year. At that point he had 24 islands left to go.
He said: “The other day someone asked me how many miles I’d sailed overall.
