David Birch, Dock Master at MDL’s Torquay Marina, is busy planning and preparing for an epic challenge. David intends to single-handedly cross the 75 miles from Guernsey to Torquay in Rosco, his 9ft Laser Pico dinghy, to raise money for Devon based Rowcroft Hospice in May of this year.
Rowcroft Hospice was recommended to David as his sponsored charity by friends and has been described as being at ‘the heart of Devon’. The hospice serves the local community by providing specialist care to patients with progressive, life limiting illnesses.
Although David has lots of experience on yachts he has less than two years experience of single-handed dinghy sailing, David commented: “I just think that if you’re going to do something for charity then it should be a challenge, something that you have to work hard to complete and worthy of people donating money to. This trip will take around 14 hours which in itself is a challenge when you’re sailing a single-handed dinghy; it’s the logistics that can be as problematic as the endurance aspect.”
To help with planning the trip and to track his progress, David has set up a YouTube channel which has been really useful so far. David said: “The YouTube channel has been a great tool for gathering advice from people on all topics from provisions, tactics and what I should wear, and it will serve as a useful way to track my progress throughout the preparations stage.”
David hopes to reach and exceed his £5,000 target and has set up a JustGiving page to organise the donations, David explained: “I am so grateful for any donation as well as any corporate sponsorship, I have opportunities on my sail and for stickers on my hull for companies’ logos and branding, as well as the more traditional financial donations through my JustGiving page.”
Jamie Coombes comments “David is really embracing this challenge, training in some really tricky wind and sea conditions. His enthusiasm is contagious and we will help in any way we can to ensure David succeeds.”
You can follow David’s challenge via his YouTube channel. You can find out more about The Rowcroft Hospice and you can donate online at this JustGiving page.
For further information, please contact Sunseeker Torquay:
Sunseeker Torquay | Torquay Marina | Torquay | Devon | TQ2 5EQ | info@sunseekertorquay.com | http://www.sunseekertorquay.com
