Boleh’s Trustees, Project Team and Those Who Have Helped Us Along
Here you can meet the Trustees, the Project Team and those who have helped us along the way. If you have any questions about Boleh or would just like to know more about our Project, please contact any one of us through this site.
Boleh's Patron and Trustees
Vice Admiral Sir David Steel
Patron of the The Boleh TrustSir David retired from the Royal Navy in March 2015 after serving in uniform for thirty six years. A Logistics Officer by specialisation but also trained as a barrister. As Naval Secretary and then as Second Sea Lord Sir David became acquainted with the work of the Boleh Trust through his former commanding officer, George Middleton.
Sir David is now Patron of the Boleh Trust.
George Middleton
Chairman of the Boleh TrustChairman of the Boleh Trust, nephew of Robin Kilroy, past skipper of Boleh and Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights. Travelled the world with the Royal Navy and Vosper Thornycroft before retiring to the Somerset countryside where my interests are hobby farming, heritage, and following rugby. Passionate about getting Boleh back in the water to serve young people.
Henry Middleton
Spent 30 years in the RAF, retiring as a Group Captain. Second career as Bursar of Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire where duties included the oversight of the operation of ``Jolie Brise`` the school's famous 1913 French Pilot Cutter. Has a passion for sailing and how that can benefit young people, no doubt born from his childhood spent family sailing on ``Boleh.
Chris Austin
Chartered Civil Engineer who has lived and worked in Australia, Libya and Oman. Has experienced various roles in engineering, project management, training and sales and marketing. The opportunity to share his training experience, and a wish to help young people achieve their goals, inspired Chris to be part of the Boleh Trust.
Piers Middleton
Director of Clarksons, Shipbrokers, with responsibility for new build and offshore support vessels for the oil industry. Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights. Keen sailor who finds time between travel on business and a young family to run marathons raising money for the Boleh Trust.Involved in the original 2007 'rescue' and recovery of Boleh from Mallorca for restoration in Portsmouth.
Guy Fithen
Runs Vox, a media and coaching business based in London. Amazed to hear about the recovery and restoration plans for junk-yacht Boleh from George Middleton, as it turned out that as a boy growing up in Singapore, Guy bought a dog-eared copy of Robin’s book, ‘Boleh’ on Changi market and it was this book that inspired him to learn to sail.
David Knight
Widely involved in the agricultural industry as a fruit farmer, director of several grain and fruit cooperatives and in rural management consultancy. Sailing experience extends over 50 years with dinghy and yacht racing as well as restoration of a large oyster smack. Considers it a privilege to be involved with such an exciting project.
Caroline Middleton
Caroline is a practising Barrister specialising in family law. Her sailing experience includes time spent on the classic French Pilot Cutter ``Jolie Brise``, an Atlantic crossing, and numerous family sailing escapades. Her work encompasses dealing with care cases which gives her a good insight into the needs of those facing disadvantage in their lives.
Sophia Mirchandani
Sophia is a museum professional with over 25 years’ experience in the heritage and cultural sectors. Has a particular interest in the imaginative reuse and development of heritage buildings and assets to meet new social and cultural needs. First became involved in helping Boleh secure HLF funding when she was part of the team developing plans for her restoration and future use.
Mark Minshull
A Chartered Mechanical Engineer and Programme Manager who has been involved in a number of ship-build and ship support programmes across the globe. I have sailed all my life, first in dinghies and more recently in cruisers. Apart from sailing my interests include sport, music and classic cars.
I first came across Boleh in 2007 at the start of the rescue mission but a ‘chance encounter’ with the team in 2017 captured my fascination for her and I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to contribute to this fantastic project.
Toby Marris
Toby Marris is Sailing Master of the Dauntsey's School world famous pilot cutter ``Jolie Brise``. He is Chairman of Tall Ships International, an RYA Examiner on the board of ASTO, and hugely knowledgeable about all aspects of sail training. He brings a wealth of sailing experience to the Trust.
Unique historic junk yacht restored
by apprentices with lottery funding
Boleh's Project Team
Kevin Hood
Lead SkipperKevin served in the Royal Navy over a 28 year career. Moved subsequently to EDF Energy as their Head of Reward and then later retraining for his current role teaching sailing. He is a Commercial Yachtmaster Ocean and Yachtmaster Instructor who works for a number of charities and sailing schools in the South of the country.
Graham Westbrook
Naval ArchitectGraham is a Project Naval Architect who has been 'messing about with boats' since being given a book about sailing as a prize at junior school. Has been involved in the design, construction and operation of a wide range of boats, yachts and ships with a particular interest in wooden sailing vessels of all sizes.
Katy Bater
Website and Social MediaKaty served for 5 years with the Royal Navy then went on to do voluntary work in Zimbabwe where she worked on a Lion rehabilitation programme. Katy was the Project Coordinator for the Boleh Project and managed the project on a day to day basis on behalf of the Trustees. For a long time, Katy was the main contact for all things Boleh.
Want to get involved and volunteer?
From Skippers to Open Day Stewards, there are lots of ways to get involved – we would love to hear from you!
Those Who Helped Us Along
We have been hugely fortunate throughout the project, to have had such fantastic people helping the project along. From advice on putting our funding together, to creating a real community involved project and excellent technical skills; the Boleh Trustee's are extremly grateful for each individual's commitment.
Brian Taylor
Project ShipwrightBrian started working with the Boleh Project in March 2011, overseeing both the rebuild and the hands on training of the apprentices. Throughout his 50 year career in the boat building industry, he has worked on numerous boat projects all around the world, from small scale production craft to super yachts.
Tim Gallier
Production ManagerTim supported the Apprentices in all aspects of developing their skills and knowledge during the restoration. In particular the issuing of job cards and the scheduling of work on the shop floor allowing them to fully participate in the Boleh restoration and at the same time being able to provide evidence for their NVQ assessment.
Dave Reason
ShipwrightDave served his apprenticeship in Portsmouth Naval Base from 1967-1973, since then he has worked as a boatbuilder on both old and new boats in most of the local firms. Dave started with the Boleh Project at the beginning of April 2013.
Peter Spurge
ShipwrightPeter is a yacht and boat builder by trade, with time served at Westerly Marine, Northshore Yachts and Emsworth boatyard. He has also spent time with Halmatic and Premier yachts, where he worked on custom yachts worth anything up to £2million. Peter joined the Boleh Project to concentrate on laying the teak deck.
Carl Standley
ShipwrightFollowing an apprenticeship at Camper and Nicholsons in Gosport, Carl has gone on to dedicate his career to the boatbuilding industry. He joined the Boleh Project from his most recent position at the small boat section of BAE Systems where he was responsible for the constructions of RIBs and other watercraft.
Sara Lamond
Marketing and PRFollowing service with the Royal Navy, Sara went on to work in the Defence Sector in various roles including Commercial, Business Development and Corporate Communications. She now runs her own wedding and event floral design business in Hampshire, working with top venues across the South. More recently Sara made a fantastic contribution as a Trustee managing the PR elements of the Trust and managed the launch of our new website with wonderful results.
Andy Murray
Transition ManagerAndy was the Transition Manager for the Boleh Trust and helped to take an inspiring vessel from her restoration into operating as a Sail Training boat in the Portsmouth area. Andy spent a number of years working at Sea in both the superyacht and sail training industries and runs his own marine consultancy business Ocean Tempus Consulting.
