Simon Hughes

After 20 years as a skipper and project manager on sailing yachts from 47 to 90 feet Simon Hughes has teamed up with David Risby to provide a dedicated yacht safety advice and equipment supply business. They see this as a great opportunity to pass on to other sailors the experience they have gained from 16 Atlantic crossings and a combined quarter of a million sea miles.

Simon started sailing at the age of 5 on a small lake in the UK, then moved to Guernsey with his parents at the age of 12 where he was introduced to keelboats and sailed the challenging tidal waters of the Channel Islands and adjacent coast of France. In 1993 he resigned from his job as an accountant and started delivering boats, taking a Swan 57 from Antigua to Guernsey. Subsequently he became skipper for the owner of Trintella Shipyard in Holland and became familiar with new builds, spec’ing and commissioning yachts. This required building knowledge of the correct safety equipment for the particular type of boat and voyages being undertaken.

Subsequent experience as skipper of various yachts, primarily Oysters and Swans, 10 Atlantic crossings and more than 150,000 sea miles has taught him about the safety equipment available and how to use and maintain it. 
 

David Risby

David has combined a career providing technical advice to the construction industry with his love of sailing, taking time out to compete in ocean races and moving larger sailing yachts to their next cruising base in Europe, the Caribbean or the Americas.

David’s introduction to sailing came with dinghy racing on the south coast, moving to sailing small cruising yachts before building up his long distance mileage and completing his yachtmaster.

Since then, sailing many different yachts in varying conditions has given David a knowledge of the variety of safety equipment available and the importance of having the right kit onboard to deal with whatever circumstances throw at you as well as meeting racing requirements.

David and Simon met in 1994 and since then have sailed extensively together. Between them they have experience of many types of yachts, from day racing boats, to cruising yachts that tackle occasional races to ocean going yachts that combine long distance sailing with cruising and racing.