Triple round-the-world yachtsman Conrad Humphreys sits in his office in Plymouth and plots his latest challenge.
Having completed the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1993-94 and made history as the youngest ever skipper to win the BT Global Challenge in 2001-2, Conrad then defied the elements in 2004-5 to become only the fifth Briton in history to cross the line in the toughest sailing challenge of them all, the Vendee Globe.
So, job done then? Time to take things a bit easier? Not a bit of it. Although he now works from the comfort and warmth of his office, Conrad's current mission is possibly as tough as anything he's done before – to raise global awareness about the plight of the marine environment.
Conrad's love of the sea goes back to his childhood days in Exmouth, when he would leave school and head straight down to his local sailing club: "We had a very strong sailing scene with one of the best boat-builders and sail-makers in the country, which inspired me at a young age and taught me a huge amount," he says.
"It was very easy for that environment to rub off on me and I felt very connected with the sea. I raced week in, week out. Invariably, people get into sailing because of their parents but that wasn't the case for me. It was the fact I lived close to the beach."
His first big sailing adventure got him into trouble with his mother: "When I was about 12 years old, I decided to sail on my own from Exmouth to Torbay. I set off in my cadet, which was a little 10ft 6in plywood dinghy. I hadn't told my mum that I was heading off and it took me about 15 or 16 hours to get there – I remember arriving after dark! The thrill of being at sea in a little boat never went away after that."
After winning the Junior World Championships in Holland, Conrad was asked to join a youth team in the Whitbread Round the World Race and sailed with a team of Ukrainians and Russians: "Half of them couldn't speak English and the project was severely under-funded… but it was a great challenge and that race really got into my blood.
"It was a huge adventure and I wanted more. I set my sights next on winning the BT Global Challenge. I knew I could make my mark in that race and I enjoyed leading a team of amateur sailors."
Conrad also won the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2003, with Paul Larsen in the two-man team. But his main focus was on competing in the single-handed, non-stop round-the-world Vendee Globe: "I had always intended the BT Global Challenge as a stepping stone for my ultimate goal, which was the Vendee Globe. I remember seeing Pete Goss arriving back in Plymouth after he'd done it – I'll never forget that – the penny dropped that I wanted to do this race, too. It is the Holy Grail of ocean racing and when I completed it in 2005, it was my greatest sailing achievement to date.
"Once you leave Les Sables D'Olonne you're on your own; just you, your fellow competitors and the ocean. You've got to have your wits about you. I've always had a healthy respect for the sea – you have to, otherwise it can turn on you. I feel very at ease on the ocean, and I think that's due to the sheer amount of time I've spent on the water."
After 104 days at sea, Conrad crossed the finish line in seventh place, becoming only the fifth Briton to complete the race.
During the race, he had seen some of the most beautiful sights the planet has to offer: "There are three places in the world where I have witnessed the best marine life shows and all have deep, cold water upwelling which brings very nutrient-rich water to the surface. It's an explosion of life as whales, sharks, dolphins and seabirds enjoy a feeding frenzy. It's the best natural show of wildlife you'll ever see. One of the areas is off Maine, Nova Scotia, one is directly south of Cape Town and the third is the Chatham Islands just to the south-east of New Zealand.
"And I've spent many, many hours of my life in the water being followed by porpoises and dolphins, especially off the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. The most incredible time is the middle of the night when you've got their phosphorescent trails following behind the boat and you can see them darting about. Equally, when you see a big school of them and they're leaping out of the water, there's nothing like it."
Conrad's passion for the sea and concern for its wellbeing was the driving force behind the Blue Project, which he set up in 2007. The aim is to connect people with the marine environment: "My over-riding feeling was that if we were going to get more people to care for our oceans, then we'd have to find greater ways of connecting people with the issues that our blue environments face."
In 2010, the first annual Blue Mile was held off Plymouth Hoe. Last September, four Olympic gold medallists took part in the event – slalom canoeists Tim Baillee and Etienne Stott, double rowing gold medallist Andy Triggs Hodge, and Plymouth-based Lithuanian swimmer Ruta Meilutyte.
This year's Ecover Blue Mile takes place in Plymouth on September 14 and 15 – a mass participation water-sports weekend – and other Blue Miles are taking place in Weymouth and Eastbourne during the summer.
For the first time there is also a Schools Blue Mile in June, with schools nationally being encouraged to "do something blue" and a major event with the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth.
This year, the focus is on plastics and the damage being done to coastal waters and beaches. "It saddens me to see the sheer level of plastic and we need to take much more of a personal action over it," said Conrad, who has chosen the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) as the partner charity for the 2013 Ecover Blue Mile.
"The Blue Mile is still very young and I am pleasantly surprised at the momentum it is gathering even at this early stage. In the space of three years, we've built up a great following with the public and we've caught the eye and ear of established organisations such as national sports bodies, MCS and Ecover.
"I'd like to think that in the next ten years we can do for the blue environment what Red Nose Day has done for communities in Africa."
Conrad is an oceanographer and studied ocean science at the University of Plymouth. He fears for the future of our seas – and, by implication, the rest of the planet. "We have this strange juxtaposition; we treat the oceans like a great big magic carpet that we can lift one corner and sweep all our rubbish under and hope it will miraculously go away.
"Yet, on the other hand, we take from it fish and minerals that we think will just magically replenish themselves.
"Sadly, we now know that both of those assumptions are dangerously wrong. The planet is 70% blue and all of us rely on the oceans.
"How long will it be before our marine environment becomes our most pressing need? It's already one of our most pressing needs and we should address it now."
For more information, visit www.thebluemile.org and www.conradhumphreys.com.
