I was lucky enough to sail the Atlantic with James Dodd in 2009 from Antigua to Dartmouth a passage of some 3500 miles. It was a difficult crossing, the planned six crew were down to three, one of whom had not sailed before, and the weather was not on our side culminating in a force 10 gale in mid Atlantic.

This would have been a very testing time for any skipper, but the meticulous preparation, attention to detail and ‘management’ of potentially dangerous situations applied by James throughout the voyage culminated in a safe crossing. James Dodd is a remarkable man; the skill and leadership qualities demonstrated by him were outstanding, he built complete trust and confidence within the crew to ensure all worked as a team totally reliant on each other, enabling him to accomplish the task. I, together with the crew would sail again with James anywhere, and hopefully will.”