Jimmy Cornell, 78
Jimmy is a Romanian-born yachtsman, author and founder of the World Cruising Club.
GEOGRAPHY CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING
I grew up in a village in Transylvania and only saw the Black Sea once when I was nine years old on a summer camp. I was immediately fascinated by it and wanted to go to sea ever since. As it happened, I met my British wife to-be Gwenda in Romania and ended up moving to England, where I worked at the BBC. The company happened to have a yachting club, which changed my life. I started sailing on the Thames and qualified on their 40-foot yacht and it very quickly became a passion.
FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS, NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE ELSE THINKS
After I married and had children, I started to dream about going on a sailing voyage as a family. I was very fortunate that my wife Gwenda shared my dream – and against the odds, we went ahead and did it. We planned to be away for maybe three years but it turned out to be six. Everyone thought we were crazy, but I don’t regret a thing. I had gained my freedom after so many years in a country where I didn’t have any. I wanted to do something with it. For me, that meant going out and seeing the world.
