Geoff Holt Achieves His Amazing Challenge

Posted on December 31, 2007

What would you do if at the age of 18 years you were involved in a swimming accident that paralysed you from the chest down and confined you to a wheelchair? If you are Geoff Holt you single handedly sail around the UK 23 years later.

This story, reported recently, really touched me. Visiting his website, I checked out the video section and viewed Geoff Holt’s report on the start of this huge challenge which he has called his Personal Everest. Although the start did not go as planned, the mishap that forced a re-start really explains graphically the unbelievable courage Geoff has had to have to attempt a challenge such as this.

The start of the challenge had been planned and executed to the last detail. Most important though was the media presence and the start was scheduled for 1.00pm, on May 14 2007, in order to catch TV news with a live cross over.

It was a fairly windy day, nevertheless the start went smoothly. Geoff picked up a fair bit of speed. He had been going for about 15 minutes when a supporter boat crossed in front of him creating a freak wave. The wake created by this tilted his boat and he slipped out of his seat and fell face down into the sea.

Of course he could not turn himself over and was totally dependent on his team. For him it felt as if it was for ever before he was rescued. In reality it was barely 20 seconds. Mind blowing how courageous he is to sail on his own, with that scenario amongst many others, a constant possibility. Add to that the fact that he has to be able to trust in his team totally.

Rather than a false start, for me it is a brilliant indication of the true challenge. We might have shrugged the achievement off as one of those things. This is especially so for people like myself who can’t sail and have no idea of the challenges faced by able bodied sailors never mind somebody paralysed from the waist down.

A further video shows him discussing the weather while in Scottland. Due to the unusually windy and wet summer, the challenge of sailing around the UK ended up being a double challenge. Not only would it be more difficult to sail in such weather, but some of the more extreme weather put a stop to actual sailing.

The frustration of having to wait out bad weather in harbours along the way, must have been a real de-motivator. Listening to and watching the video, one can see the terrible weather in the background and hear the frustration and disappointment in his voice.

Have a look at the pictures on his website. I live in Brighton and the sea laps gently onto the pebbled beach, mostly. On the images on the site, the sea is quite different. Amazing what a touch or so of wind can do. The waves are frightening to look at, never mind to sail through with the physical disabilities Geoff has to contend with. Absolutely amazing.

When he finally arrived back at his starting point of Hamble, 108 days and 1 600 km later, he was welcomed by boats, yachts and cheering appreciative admiring crowds. It was a hero’s welcome for a courageous man. He is well deserving that title and is an inspiration not only to other disabled people but to all humanity.

Anja Merret lives in Brighton, UK, having moved across from South Africa just over a year ago.

She now looks after the business interests of her daughter who is a Flash Developer and Accessibility expert. She started a blog at the beginning of the year under the heading of chatting to my generation. Although she is chatting to the baby boomer generation, she sometimes feels that all generations have the same issues to face, they just don’t have hearing aids or walking sticks!

One of her pet peeves is the war in Iraq and in fact anything that causes innocent people to get hurt. But she also loves tech stuff, although only as an amateur. She considers herself a Silver Surfer Gadget Geek. She is even considering queuing for an iPhone in the UK later on in the year. But her daughter has offered, so she will only be taking hot food to the Brighton Geeks waiting in line.

Her musings may be found on http://www.anjamerret.com Her observations on personal power and self-development may be found on http://www.pinkblocks.com