- Conference Speakers
Topics:
- Motivation & Teamwork
Robin Knox-Johnston
Sir Robin Know-Johnston is one of the most famous sailors and explorers in the world today. A motivational speaker who demonstrates through his actions that age should not be a hinderance to achieving your goals, whatever they might be.
Around The World
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston recently competed in the VELUX 5 OCEANS round the world yacht race. At 67, Sir Robin was the oldest – and the most experienced - competitor in the race and proves that age is no barrier to achieving your goals.
In 1969 Sir Robin became the first person to sail non-stop around the planet when he won the Sunday Times Golden Globe. Back then this took a monumental 312 days, almost 40 years on his target for this year’s race is some 200 days shorter at 112 days.
A Brief Life History
Born 17th March 1939, in Putney, London. The eldest of 4 brothers. School at Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, the same school as Bill Tilman and Graham Greene. A team mate of Michael Meacher MP. Main interests insclude, long running, swimming and boxing. Not very good at team sports, indeed, chose tennis as opposed to cricket, but usually slipped away to Grandparents house to work on a 1927 Austin 7 car instead of either. Went to sea in the Merchant Navy in 1957 as a Deck officer. In 1962 married childhood sweetheart, Suzanne, who passed away in November 2003 as a result of ovarian cancer. One daughter, Sara, born in Bombay 1963, and now 5 grandchildren. Interests:- Sailing, Exploring by boat, Maritime History, the marine environment, youth development, shooting.
Organisations, Committees and Fund Raising
In 1992 RKJ was invited to become President of the Sail Training Association, a youth development organisation which operated two topsail schooners “Sir Winston Churchill” and “Malcolm Miller” and also organised the annual Tall Ships races. Before he retired in 2001 £11 million had been raised to replace these two vessels with two larger brigs “Prince William” and “Stavros Niarchos” respectively left and right below.
Also in 1992 he became a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, London, serving as Chairman of the Friends for 3 years, before being appointed a Greenwich representative for the projected Maritime Museum in Falmouth, Cornwall. His ten years at Greenwich expired in 2002, but he remains a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum – Cornwall, at Falmouth which opened in 2003.
RKJ was appointed to the Sports Lottery Panel at its inception in 1995, initially distributing £250 million a year, and from 1999 until 2002 served as a member of the English Sports Council
