05.12.2011 - Estates Director Wins Prestigious Award for Outstanding Seamanship

Michael Hook, Estates Director for Priory Asset Management LLP, has been announced by JP Morgan Asset Management and the Island Sailing Club as one of the joint winners of the Nautica Seamanship Award for the 2011 race. The two winners of the accolade were both recognised for undertaking Man over Board recoveries in what were challenging conditions in big seas.

The J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, held on 25th June 2011, was hosted and run by the Island Sailing Club (ISC) in Cowes, Isle of Wight. The 80th Anniversary race was the largest ever to be staged with 1,908 yachts entered.

The race was conducted in very challenging weather conditions that lead to an unusually high number of incidents on the water and the highest level of nominations ever for the Nautica Outstanding Seamanship Award, now in its fourth year.

The Nautica Outstanding Seamanship Award recognises acts of good seamanship on race day and is open to all those involved, whether competitors, spectators, members of the emergency services or race officers.
The Award's judging panel comprising Gavin Crilly-McKean (Nautica Watches), Dave Atkinson (ISC Race Management) and Simon Boulding (Britannia Corporate Events) stated that the winners were selected because, 'successful MOB recoveries in such unforgiving circumstances have to be exercised with a great deal of skill and without a moment's hesitation or regard for the rescuer's race results.'

Michael Hook commented, “As a skipper on the day, you simply do what anyone else would do in the same situation. As soon as I saw the person fall off the other boat, considering the seas, I knew that we would have to react to ensure that the person, later identified as Ettienne once he had been rescued, a Frenchman visiting for the race, would be rescued from the water as soon as possible to reduce the chances of drowning or hypothermia. Once we had helped Ettienne warm up and dry out, he was in good spirits and back up on deck for the finish of the race.”

Michael is looking forward to next year’s race when he hopes the weather will be better and the race a little less dramatic.

Priory Asset Management LLP is a forward thinking property development company which seeks out opportunities to supply new, environmentally minded and socially acceptable Extra Care, Respite and Dementia Homes which will dramatically enhance the localities where they are built.

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