The skipper

Phil Bennett

I am an almost retired academic obstetrician and gynaecologist, previously working clinically at Queen Charlotte’s Maternity Hospital in London, and doing research and teaching at Imperial College. 

I became interested in the sailing through an unusual route. We bought a house in West London on the Grand Union Canal, close to its outflow into the River Thames. So we bought a retired ex-hire Norfolk Broads cruiser and explored the upper reaches of the Thames, the Grand Union Canal, and other inland waterways. This lead on to the purchase of a bigger more powerful motorboat, in which I learnt navigation and some seamanship.

This lead on to the purchase of a bigger more powerful motorboat, in which I learnt navigation and some seamanship.

We kept her in Hayling Island and explored the English Channel on both sides out as far as the Scilly Isles to the west, and Amsterdam to the east. But the point and shoot navigational style of a motorboat, the very limited range and the growing cost of diesel led me to explore sailboats. We charted sailing boats in the British Virgin Islands, Antigua, San Diego and Thailand, during which I sort of taught myself to sail. And this led to the acquisition of my first, and probably my last sailboat; Kind of Blue.