The Race to Scotland in an Aero

Published 00:00 on 4 Jan 2023

Last Thursday evening, about 50 members of all ages enjoyed an inspiring talk given by Ken Fowler entitled Race to Scotland. He told us about his own personal challenge to sail his RS Aero from Lands' End to John O'Groats before his annual leave allowance ran out! It was an adrenaline-fuelled tale!

Although Ken didn't quite make it to John O'Groats by just 47 miles, he achieved his two main aims, firstly to 'Stay Alive' and secondly to raise money for his two charities - Cancer Research UK and the Oakhaven Hospice Trust based in Lymington.

His amazing journey covered 865 miles in his Aero, Yoda, and involved battling whirlpools, surf beach landings, storms and RNLI rescues. Ken was very grateful to the RNLI for their help along the way. He described a punishing schedule of roughly 10 hours a day in the boat which really pushed him to the limits of his endurance.

Ken's inspiration for the trip was to raise £50,000 for the two charities in memory of his father and mother-in-law, who both died from cancer. Ken actually raised £37,000, which was an amazing achievement but was still £13,000 short of his target.

Ken fundraises by giving talks, but his main focus now is a new challenge to become the first sailor to round ALL the islands in England and Wales around 250 islands covering 1,200 miles. He's currently about halfway through.

If you would like to donate to either Cancer Research UK or Oakhaven Hospice Trust (or both) please click on the links below:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/yodare-cancerresearch

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/yodare-oakhaven

Ken will be giving talks at the Dinghy Exhibition in Farnborough on 25-26 February, so look out for him if you go to this show.