Oliver Perkins

I’ve been sailing since I was born, 15 years ago. My parents had a Cornish Crabber 24, called Mordialloc, which they kept in Poole Harbour for years. We then moved her to St Mawes where we kept her for a few years. We spent long holidays in St Mawes day sailing. When I was 5 we moved Mordialloc to Bosham Channel in Chichester Harbour. This was when we started staying onboard for nights. We soon grew out of the Crabber and bought Rhùm, a 36 foot Beneteau which we keep on our mooring in Bosham. With a larger boat, I could have my own cabin – no more sharing with my brother! Over the next few years, we explored the Solent but never going further than Keyhaven. When I was 8 my parents bought me my first Optimist and from then on most weekends have been spent dinghy sailing. I progressed through the Optimist Zone Squads and got into the Optimist Intermediate Squad last winter. Realising that I was getting too big for Oppies I moved into Laser 4.7s. I am now in the Laser 4.7 National Summer Squad and will be representing GBR in the Laser 4.7 World Championships this summer in Belgium. I also team race with my school in Fireflies every week. Last year we finally ventured out of the Solent in a cruise to Poole. I plan to cruise more extensively when I am older and would like to visit Antarctica, Greenland and everywhere in between! I have joined the Royal Navy Cadets which provides lots of sailing opportunities. My journalism career started last summer with an article about a cup holder for cockpits and since then I have written lots more articles on a range of topics. I have just started to write my first book and at some stage in my life, I plan to live on a boat! Contact me here: http://oliverperkins.com/contact/