Sir Robin was the first person to sail single handed and non-stop around the world between 14 June 1968 and 22 April 1969. His voyage lasted just over ten months.

He arrived back in Falmouth after 312 days at sea, securing his place in the history books.

In recognition of his achievement, he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and a knight bachelor.

In 1996, Robin established the first Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. It is perhaps his greatest achievement to have introduced so many people to competitive sailing via their involvement in the Clipper Race.

In 2012 the Australian Geographic Society, recognising his many divers expeditions over the years and his ongoing efforts to promote adventure, presented him with its highest accolade, a ‘Gold’ Medal for a ‘Lifetime of Adventure’. This was only the 12th time it had been presented in the 25 year history of the Society. The inscription on this ultimate ‘Gold’ medal, simply read ‘For a life spent encouraging Adventure and Discovery’.

‘Jane Jane’ manages all financial affairs of the OGR and GGR, all Facebook Live feeds, assists with race photography and never stops smiling.

She is a qualified charter skipper, whale swim guide, diver and Antarctic Zodiac driver who originally trained as an Air Traffic Controller.

She met Don in 2005 as project manager/Chinese interpreter on a boat building project. From Zhuhai China, she finally married Don during the Hobart stopover of the 2018 GGR and they now live in Les Sables d’ Olonne and keep an apartment in China.

Barry Pickthall is a former yachting correspondent for The Times newspaper and has been covering the international stage for the past 4 decades, from the Olympics to America’s Cup and Round the World Races.

Barry is the author of 32 books relating to watersports and his photo library PPL Media Ltd holds the official photo archive tracing the complete history of the original Golden Globe Race.

Rob has 20 years’ experience in managing creative and digital design projects. From branding to film production, his skills and interests are wide ranging.

Originally a graduate of engineering, he has captained his own design company since the early days of digital marketing.

Passionate about the GGR and all things adventure!

Annette ‘Pepper’ has been an integral team member since its inception when the idea to reinvent the GGR was born on a boat in Tonga in 2014. 

As a highly skilled designer with an extensive background in the international advertising and media industry, she has crafted the brand identity for both GGR and McIntyre Adventure. She served on the GGR management team until 2018 and was responsible for visual identity, social media, and website development. The foundational structure and design principles she established continue to serve as the cornerstone of the current iteration.

In the 2022 edition, she primarily focused on designing essential parts for the race village and managing the GGR Instagram account.

In 1999, Jesse became the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, non-stop, and unassisted. His voyage took approximately 11 months. He chronicled his adventures in the book Lionheart: A Journey of the Human Spirit, and his story was made into a documentary, Lionheart: The Jesse Martin Story.

In 2002 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

Jesse directed, edited and filmed most of the 2018 Golden Globe Race documentary, due for release on August 30th 2022.

Melissa has 25 years of experience in the sporting/event world, from production, technical and commercial project management.

Alongside her Vice President role at IMG, she was also Head of Sailing/Nautical Sports for 15 years, during which time she managed two Americas Cups, World Match Racing Tour, Extreme Sailing Series, Volvo Ocean Race, Class One and the H20 series.

Evelyne has 10 years of international academic and professional experience in project management, management of national and international continuous improvement processes and management of sustainable development and social responsibility processes within the higher education sector.

Fabrice has 20 years of international experience in research, teaching and management of pedagogical projects in Europe (France, UK, Germany, Spain and Italy), in Latin America (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay) and in India. Through his international academic network, he has developed several international research projects on innovation.

My passion for sailing began at a very early age, firstly in the Snipe Class, and later in the 3/4 ton class, one ton, 50′ class, First Class 8, obtaining numerous prizes, both in national and international regattas (King’s Cup, Queen Sofia, Prince of Asturias, Sailing Tour of Spain, Spanish Championships, Atlantic Arc etc).

I have held several positions as President of the Sailing Federation of the Principality of Asturias, Vice President of the FICO, and organised regattas in Spain and Latin America (Open UAP, Transat Jacques Vabre, La Solitaire Le Figaro, TransGascogne, Mini Transat, Mondial Assistance, La Barquera and BWR).

Always guided by my mentors, Gerard Petipas, Pierre Bojic, Michel Malinowski, and Denis Horeau, I am delighted to provide support to the GGR for the organisation of the Prologue of the Golden Globe Race in Gijon.