ASAHI

Born in Plymouth, UK, James grew up on Dartmoor, spending most of his free time outside on his bike. At the age of nine, James went away to boarding school where he completed his A-levels. During summer holidays and weekends at home, James would spend most of his spare time sailing and racing dinghies. Whilst at college, James joined the Air Training Corps (ATC) where he learnt to fly, shoot and participated in many team and individual activities.
After college, James travelled to Australia and New Zealand for a gap year, spending three months in the outback as a Jackaroo (farm hand.) Returning home from his gap year, he joined the British Territorial Army. After completing Basic Training he was called up for full time military service for a six month operational tour of Iraq.
Having returned to the UK in one piece and his parents about to emigrate, James decided to look for a different career and started yachting in March 2005. He completed his Master 3000 in 2015. During this time, he worked on five yachts, most of which were sailing yachts. He has travelled around the world on DRUMBEAT, serving British Royals on LEANDER and worked for Kings on others, with his main goal always being guest safety and enjoyment. Now in his spare time, when he is not busy looking after his four-year-old son or doing DIY around the house, James likes to kite surf, ride Enduro motorcycles, and hiking in the mountains around Mallorca.

Arran was born in a tiny village in the New Forest District in England. Being such a small place, he had the desire to spread his wings and see what else was out there in the world, from a very young age.
Arran had been sailing when he was young locally in the Solent, Southampton. At 21, he had saved enough money to spread his wings and see some more of the world. The opportunity came up to start his travels in the French Riviera, where his aunt and uncle live. They had both been working on yachts for many years. His uncle gave him a taste of the industry, by letting him day-work on the yacht he was working on as Chief Engineer, during the Cannes Film Festival. From that moment, he decided this was the life for him, so he quickly joined a yacht, as full time Engineer in Malta.
Arran spent the first part of his career working on classic sailing yachts, as he completely fell in love with them. He then moved into the charter scene on motor yachts before returning back to his passion, sailing yachts.
In Arran’s spare time, he likes to travel to some of his favourite destinations around the world.
Arran is somewhat of a self-confessed ‘geek” so he loves to follow technology pretty closely. He particularly enjoys scuba diving and some of his favourite moments in yachting are watching guests come back to the surface, excited to talk about what they have seen below.
Arran’s favourite place to cruise has been the Galapagos Islands. He had the opportunity to cruise this area a while ago and those memories are dear to him to this very day. It had always been his dream to one day visit this Archipelago. He had heard so much about it from a number of sources over the years. His Salty Seadog of an uncle had regaled him with stories of the time he had spent there, working as a marine biologist. Another source being one of his big heroes, Sir David Attenborough through his work for the BBC.

Gary was born in Glasgow, raised in Cornwall, settled in Sussex. If Gary had to chose between city, country or by the water, he could certainly be by the latter, because for him, nothing quite compares to open water.
After finishing school, Gary began a four-year apprenticeship in electrical engineering, which proved to be a great opportunity for gaining valuable experience, a hunger for problem solving and a determination to help oth-ers- skills that provided a smooth transition into yachting in 2017.
As of the moment, Gary’s yachting career has predominantly taken place in the Mediterranean Sea, but he was fortunate enough to spend an exciting winter season between South Korea and Japan.
Gary has a strong passion for sports, whether football, rugby, NFL, Cross-fit or Formula 1, whenever possible, you will either find him playing, read-ing about it or watching them in his spare time.
Gary joined SY Asahi just this season and ready to take on the summer and ensure you have a memorable time on board.

Dan was born in Scotland overlooking Ben Nevis but only lived there for two weeks. He moved to Oxford until he was seven, then moved to Newcastle, where he has been living ever since.
Dan got into yachting after many years in the commercial world of shipping. He decided that he wanted a change and knew yachting could offer that change. He wanted something more personal and to work with a small number of guests, rather than the thousands you have on a cruise ship.
ASAHI is the first yacht he has worked on, having worked with the previous owner for almost a year. Previously he spent five years on cruise ships, working for P&O around the world.
When Dan’s at home, he's in the kitchen with music playing, cooking for friends and family, he always keeps busy with projects and helping friends. He considers himself a bit of an adrenalin junky and will happily throw himself out of a plane with a parachute on his back!
Dan sees the world as being too small not to see it, so he’s always looking for new adventures and new parts of the world to discover. Music is a big part of Dan, and he loves seeing it live! He has seen some amazing artists perform and hopes to add more to this tally.
Dan loves seeing the guests enjoying the water toys and after having recently added new toys to the collection, he’s excited to see the guests using them and making sure they can get the best out of them. Dan is also usually the first person on the scene if there is ever a problem!
Some of the cruising destinations Dan has enjoyed the most, have been the Caribbean Islands with their white sandy beaches and sun shining bright, Madeira where the food is amazing, the people are friendly and Malta with all its history and culture.

Hamish’s love for sailing comes from growing up on his family’s 43ft sailing yacht in Auckland, New Zealand. At the age of 10, he set off with his family on his first offshore trip through the south pacific islands to Australia. Hamish’s strong interest in the ocean and sailing inevitably led him to a career in superyachts, where he predominately worked on large motor yachts, such as CLOUDBREAK, SYMPHONY and CONSTANCE. However, his passion for sailing took him to ASAHI. In his spare time, Hamish enjoys surfing, diving, mountain bike riding and yacht racing. He enjoys sharing his passion for water sports and helping guests develop new skills and confidence in the water on ASAHI’s large variety of equipment. Hamish has been able to cruise all over the world but still says that his favourite place is back in his home waters of New Zealand in the Bay of Islands and the Hauraki Gulf.