Conrad David Humphreys (born 13 February 1973) is a British professional

yachtsman A yacht () is a sail- or motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a ...

and motivational speaker. Humphreys has competed in three round the world races (

Whitbread Round the World Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Ra ...

1993–94 and the BT Global Challenge 2000–2001) and ( Vendee Globe 2004–05) He has also competed in the Transat (2004), the

Route du Rhum The Route du Rhum is a wikt:transatlantic, transatlantic Single-handed sailing, single-handed yacht racing, yacht race, which takes place every four years in November. The course is between Saint Malo, Brittany, Metropolitan France and Pointe-à- ...

(2002, 2014), the

Transat Jacques Vabre Transat may refer to: * Transat A.T., Canadian tour and travel agency ** Air Transat, Canadian airline owned by Transat A.T. * Concept Composites MD03 Transat, French ultralight aircraft * "The Transat", also called the Single-Handed Trans-Atlant ...

(2003), the Archipelago Raid (2008–2011) the

Extreme Sailing Series The Extreme Sailing Series (ESS) (formerly the iShares Cup) was an annual global racing series, organised by OC Sport, which ran from 2007 to 2018. The series started in 2007 with its main attraction being the stadium racing which puts the race ...

(2005–2007) and La Solitaire du Figaro (2011). Humphreys was the

sailing master The master, or sailing master, is a historical rank for a naval Officer (armed forces), officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing ship, sailing vessel. In the Royal Navy, the master was originally a warrant officer who ...

for the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's re-creation of Captain William Bligh's voyage from

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

Early life and education

Humphreys was born in

Exeter, Devon Exeter ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio ...

on 13 February 1973, the youngest of four siblings. Growing up in

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...

, Humphreys played competitive

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for Exmouth Rugby Club and for the County of Devon . As part of the Exmouth Sailing Club, he competed in two Cadet world championships, winning the Junior Worlds in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

1989 and finishing 6th at the 1990 Cadet Worlds in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Humphreys was then invited to join a youth team for the Fastnet in 1991. The team skipperd by Matt Humphries won. Humphreys attended Exeter College, initially training to become a journalist. However, he left college at 19 to join a team for the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1993–94. Humphreys later attended the

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

where he graduated in 1997 with a BSc in Ocean Science and

Meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

. Humphreys received an Honorary Master of Science from Plymouth University in 2005.

Professional career

In 2001, Humphreys founded Sport Environment, a

sports marketing Sports marketing as a concept has established itself as a branch of marketing over the past few decades; however, a generally accepted definition does not exist. Academicians Kaser and Oelkers (2005, p. 9) define sports marketing as 'using spor ...

consultancy for both sailing and outdoor events. He was a board member of

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded partners, ...

. Humphreys is also a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep ta ...

and coach.

Sailing career

While at Plymouth University, Humphreys skipped the college sailing team to winning the BUSA Student Yachting Nationals and finishing 2nd at World Championships. In 1997. Humphreys won the Fastnet race again with Ross Field on board the Ericsson 80 " Banque Internationale Luxembourg". At the end of his studies, he applied for a place to Skipper one of the BT Global Challenge

Global Challenge The Global Challenge (not to be confused with Global Challenge Award) was around a world yacht race run by Challenge Business, the company started by Sir Chay Blyth in 1989. It was held every four years and took a fleet of one-design steel yachts, ...

72's in the 2000–2001 edition of the race. Humphreys and his LG FLATRON team went on to dominate the race setting a record pace and winning four out of seven legs. At just 26 years of age, Humphreys became the youngest winning skipper in the history of the race. In 2001, Humphreys teamed up with Mike Golding as navigator for the EDS Atlantic Challenge, competing two transatlantic crossings and finishing 3rd in the inaugural edition of the race. He later joined Will Oxley for the 2001 edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race and went onto race in the Sydney Hobart as navigator for Commodore, CYCA, Matt Allan's Ichiban 70 in the next five editions of the race, coming close to winning the race overall in 2003. In 2003, Humphreys secured sponsorship with Motorola for the Transat Jacques Vabre and raced double-handed with Australian speedster Paul Larsen. The duo won the 50 ft class by over 500 miles. The result gave him the opportunity to pitch a campaign to Motorola for the 2004–05 Vendee Globe. On 20 February 2005, Humphreys became only the 5th British sailor to complete the Vendée Globe. He finished 7th after 104 days at sea in what has been acknowledged as one of the most remarkable comebacks in the history of the Vendée Globe race. Humphreys would later sell his Open 60, Hellomoto to yachtswoman Dee Caffari and moved into the Extreme 40 Class again with Motorola competing in the inaugural edition of the Volvo Extreme Sailing Series during the Volvo Ocean Race. Humphreys selected Leigh McMillan as Helmsman for the campaign, which would see them finish 3rd overall, winning the final event in Rotterdam. Multihull sailing was taking off and as the Extreme Sailing Series grew, Humphreys teamed with DMS as main partner for the Archipelago Raid 2007. The tough Scandinavian event is an incredible endurance race in small 18 ft Formula 18 catamarans. Humphreys and teammate Ryan, would sail 4 editions of the Archipelago Raid, finishing 4th in the 2008 edition of the race. In 2011, Humphreys again teamed up with sponsor, DMS for the La Solitaire du Figaro, the unofficial World Championships for single-handed sailing. Humphreys sailed under the banner of the Artemis Academy which was set up by OC Sport to support talented solo sailors. After a break from solo sailing, Humphreys returned to race in the 2014 edition of the Route du Rhum with the Class 40, sponsored by Cat Phones and Bullitt Group. After a difficult start to the race, he suffered a dismasting 400 miles west of Lisbon and had to retire from the race.

Mutiny – recreating Captain Bligh's epic voyage of survival

In 2016, Humphreys was recruited to be the professional skipper on board the ambitious recreation of Captain Bligh's 4000 mile voyage in an open 23 foot boat from Tonga to Timor for Channel 4. Using traditional navigation equipment and surviving off the same meagre rations as Bligh, a team of nine men led by former SBS trooper Anthony Middleton were cast adrift to recreate one of the world's greatest open boat voyages of British history.

Charity work

In 2007, Humphreys founded the Blue Project, a social enterprise to encourage people to connect and protect our blue environment. Between 2007 and 2017, the Blue Project (now Blue Foundation) celebrated a number of achievements, including creating the award-winning Blue Mile, a series of watersports and educational events that immersed participants across the UK and promoted environmental conservation. The Blue Project supported leading charities, WWF, Marine Conservation Society and the Shark Trust by raising funds to support their work. Humphreys is a trustee of the Island Sailing Trust, a local sailing charity that supports young, disabled and disadvantaged children by taking them sailing on three classic yachts, Pegasus, Moosk and Tectona.

Personal life

Humphreys married Vikki Cheung in 2002 and they have two children, Katelyn and Isabel. They live in Brixham, South Hams, Devon.

References

Sources

*Morris, Jonathan,
A tough life on the ocean waves
'',

BBC News Online BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...

, 28 May 2004 *
Yachtsman joins green project
'' Exmouth Herald, 24 August 2008

External links

Conrad Humphreys' Personal Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Humphreys, Conrad English male sailors (sport) Living people People from Exmouth 1973 births People educated at Exeter College, Devon Volvo Ocean Race sailors Extreme Sailing Series sailors Alumni of the University of Plymouth IMOCA 60 class sailors Vendée Globe finishers 2004 Vendee Globe sailors British Vendee Globe sailors Single-handed circumnavigating sailors