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Henry Bomby H


ENRY BOMBY IS ONE OF BRITAIN’S MOST PROMISING YOUNG SAILORS. The former Kingswear lad was chosen to compete in the


2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race, which takes teams 45,000 nautical miles around the world across four oceans and six continents. It was the realisation of a life-long dream, but also meant he got to see first hand the damage plastic bottles and bags are causing on the far-flung shores of uninhabited islands. Steph Woolvin had a chat with him about astronaut food, ‘screensaver’ memories and the romantic end to his round-the-world journey… Henry Bomby was taught to sail on a


reservoir in Yeovil on a topper – (the small sailing dinghy so named because it fits on the roof of a car). He took to it straight away and every time his family visited Kingswear, which he says was quite a lot, he couldn’t wait to get out on the water. He moved here when he was 16 and joined the local sailing club. “That was it!” he says – from then on he


weren’t wealthy, they didn’t just hand me thousands of pounds to buy the boat and set off! “


“My parents


knew he wanted to be a professional sailor. He kept improving his skills and was soon competing in big events like the European Championships. Then, when he was 18, he decided to sail single handed around Great Britain, a daunting task for well established sailors, let alone a recent school leaver with little money to play with: “My parents weren’t wealthy, they didn’t just hand me thousands of pounds to buy the boat and set off! I had to raise £2,000 myself and I was lucky enough to receive a £5,000 loan from Baltic Wharf in Totnes who helped me throughout the whole project.” Once Henry had got the boat he says it suddenly got easier to get sponsorship – no longer was he just


a young boy with a dream, he had something tangible which proved he was serious. It was then that Mitch Tonks got on board. “He was a great source of support. In fact,


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