MEET THE SKIRR ADVENTURES 2025 EXPEDITION SAILING STAFF
The group of professional sailors leading the SKIRR Adventures 2025 high latitude sailing expedition, which got underway from Portsmouth Harbour on 22 June, has been revealed.
The 4,500 nautical mile trip, which is split into five legs, and offers up some of Mother Nature’s most breathtaking scenery, will make its way along the UK’s West Country before heading to the Scottish Isles and Iceland then crossing into the Arctic Circle and heading for Greenland.
Since the outset, each expedition has had one goal: to provide a platform for sailors to take part in an adventure that offers the perfect balance of offshore sailing in varied conditions, and the opportunity to explore some of the most beautiful landscape and environments that the routes have to offer.
Using adapted, single-mast 68-foot yachts, crews, led by a Skipper, First Mate and Second Mate, will explore some of the most isolated and rarely seen parts of the globe, under the power of the elements. The round trip will take nearly three months, returning to Portsmouth on 19 September.
Introducing the SKIRR Adventures 2025 expedition sailing staff:
RICCARDO RORATO
SKIPPER – Legs 1, 2 and 3
No stranger to SKIRR Adventures, Riccardo, who is originally from Italy but has been based in Barcelona, Spain, for the past ten years, is a retuning skipper. He was previously First Mate and then Skipper during the 2023 expedition. An RYA Yachtmaster Instructor and Clipper Race training skipper, Riccardo has a lot of experience in leading and coaching – with the instructing and exploration side of the industry always being his biggest passion.
In addition to a wealth of instructing, Riccardo has sailed on the Pacific and explored the remote islands from French Polynesia to Hawaii. Riccardo is looking forward to this year’s expedition and is especially excited to help others experience the same awe he felt the first time he saw an iceberg and met the local communities along the way.
Kitty Phillips
First Mate – Leg 1
Having done Legs 2 to 5 of the SKIRR Adventures 2024 expedition as Second Mate, Kitty returns for the 2025 expedition as First Mate, and to complete her goal of leading crews across every leg. Kitty started her sailing career when she joined the Clipper 2019-20 Race, having never sailed before. She completed Leg 6 and 7 as Race Crew and Leg 8 as an On Board Reporter.
Since then, she’s completed the ARC, a Fastnet campaign, sailed up the coast of Norway, worked in Clipper Race’s Training HQ. Outside of – and sometimes alongside – sailing, training and expeditions, Kitty is a keen photographer.
ABI DAVIES
SECOND MATE – Legs 1,2 and 3
Abi grew up next to the sea in Dorset and started sailing in 2019 with the military. Well versed with high latitude sailing, this will be Abi’s third sailing trip to Greenland and third time crossing the Arctic Circle. Besides previous Greenland trips, Abi has also sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti where she recalled stopping the boat for a mid–Pacific swim and looking down and seeing the sun rays disappearing in the ocean, describing it as one of the best feelings. Abi has previously been a Mate for Clipper Events and most recently has been deepening her knowledge of on board systems by overseeing a large yacht refit.
RHIANNON MASSEY
First Mate – Legs 2 and 3
Rhiannon is a highly experienced sailor from Portsmouth who knows the yachts very well, having been First Mate on the 2023 SKIRR Adventures expedition and First Mate on board the Qingdao Clipper 2019-20 Race team. Learning to sail dinghies from age 7, Rhiannon raced internationally before switching to offshore sailing in 2015. In addition to SKIRR and Clipper Race, one of Rhiannon’s most memorable sailing jobs was running an all-female expedition from Hong Kong to Japan.
In addition to being a professional sailor, Rhiannon is a geography teacher and is excited to transfer her knowledge on this trip and learn lots more about the destinations along the way.
DAVID HARTSHORN
SKIPPER – LEG 4 and 5
David has been involved with sailing since he was 18, and after retiring from a career in policing in 2014, has worked full time in the sailing industry. He has racked up over 180,000 nautical miles in his logbook between instructing, deliveries and skippering teams in the Clipper Race. In addition to crossing every line of longitude on the globe at least twice and crossing the North Pacific four times, David has gained a wealth of experience leading non-professional sailors in extreme conditions.
With SKIRR Adventures, David is looking forward to trading racing for the expedition side of sailing, getting up to the Artic Circle latitudes and adding being a ‘Blue Nose’ to his honourable Shellback status! In his spare time, David enjoys reading, cooking and walking.
IAIN WALSINGHAM
First Mate – Legs 4 and 5
Iain, who is half Scottish, grew up sailing dinghies before getting involved in the university sailing circuits. Once graduated, he got the RYA Yachtmaster qualification with the aim of working for the Clipper Race. Now, as a full-time training mate for the Clipper Race and Clipper Events, Iain is no stranger to SKIRR Adventures, having done part of Leg 5 two years ago and also lots of cruising around the Highlands and Islands while studying out of Oban. When not on the water, Iain still loves being outside – either climbing mountains or walking his dog.
DONNA-LEE VON TUNK
SECOND MATE – Legs 4 and 5
Donna-Lee, who is originally from Australia but lives and works in the UK, first got into sailing by racing in Port Melbourne with one of her brothers. She went on to do some adventure sailing in the Caribbean, Europe and the high latitudes of Svalbard and Ny-Alesund before coming across the Clipper Race when she circumnavigated during the 2019-20 edition as part of the winning team Qingdao.
Upon returning, Donna, who is also a chiropractor with a busy clinic in Bedfordshire, formalised her experience and gained her RYA Yachtmaster qualification and has since worked part time back at the Clipper Race, helping to train new Race Crew, or with Clipper Events races. In her spare time, Donna enjoys flying drones and hopes to get some great footage and pictures of this upcoming trip.
Q&A
What are you most looking forward to about returning to the high latitudes?
Riccardo: I can’t wait to see the expression on the crew’s faces when we sight our first iceberg!
Abi: This will be my third time sailing to Greenland and I can’t get enough of the country! It has beautiful scenery, incredible wildlife and being close to the icebergs is an experience like no other. I’m most looking forward to the first sighting of Greenland and seeing the mountains. The icebergs are a very close second, followed by the whales.
Iain: Seeing icebergs and all the wildlife you find in the high latitudes.
Donna: I’m very excited about sailing the North Atlantic and seeing the coast of Iceland, then witnessing the enormous icebergs as we approach the Scoresbysund with breathtaking scenery of the glaciers and marine wildlife.
David: Greenland and the Faroes. I have been told that the coastlines are simply stunning.
What do you love about expedition sailing?
Rhiannon: One of the best parts of expedition sailing is being able to visit places you could not reach easily if you were not travelling by boat. Arriving by boat gives a completely different perspective.
David: Having time to explore ashore, something that you don’t always have time for when you are racing.
Abi: Expedition sailing combines elements of offshore racing in the form of watch systems but with a much more relaxed approach. I much prefer expedition sailing to racing as you get to enjoy the surroundings.
Kitty: Expedition sailing is all about adventure, stopping off at places that not many people go to when cruising and enjoying the fabulous wildlife.
How did you hear about SKIRR Adventures?
Abi: I heard of SKIRR Adventures when I met the crew in Iceland a couple of years ago. They were about to head off to Greenland and I’d just returned from there myself on a similar boat, so we caught up in Reykjavik.
Riccardo: I was aware of SKIRR from the very beginning. I’ve been involved with Clipper Race Training for the past four years. I even considered joining the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, but expedition and exploration sailing align more closely with my sailing philosophy.
What part of your role are you most looking forward to?
David: The navigational challenges.
Donna: Helping out the crew and learning more about sailing from the Skipper.
Rhiannon: One of the best parts about sailing for me is meeting a group of like-minded people from a variety of backgrounds. Everyone brings different life experiences, and you inevitably end up learning so much – about others as well as yourself. I am really looking forward to being part of an exciting, shared journey.
Kitty: I’m looking forward to helping with the navigation, looking at the weather and deciding which are the best places go, as well as hopefully trying to do some Astro navigation!
What does sailing mean to you?
Donna: What I value most in my life is freedom, and sailing represents real freedom to me. The adventures exploring remote coastlines and crossing oceans appeals to the ‘Moana’ in me. Also, the friendships you make when sailing lasts way beyond just the voyage.
David: I find the most rewarding part is seeing sailing students falling in love with sailing and then some have ended up working in the industry, which is pretty cool to think I’ve helped them on that path in some way.
What other locations are on your sailing bucket list?
Abi: I would absolutely love to sail to Patagonia, through the fjords and up to those glaciers.
Donna: The Antarctic is the only continent I’ve yet to sail to, so that’s my next adventure.
Rhiannon: Many places! But I would definitely like to do some more sailing in the Pacific and visit some of the many Pacific Islands.
Iain: The aim is to hopefully Skipper a future addition of the Clipper Race and maybe even win it!
Riccardo: Asia. I’ve never sailed there, and I’d love to spend a few months exploring Indonesia.
David: In the footsteps of Shackleton down to Antarctica. Also looking at a bit of a personal quest, to sail from the UK to Patagonia, via Magallanes Passage, then back via the Galapagos Islands and the Panama Canal.
Spaces are still available for Leg 2 and Leg 5 so if you would like to sail with any of the above staff members or experience what SKIRR Adventures is all about, please do not hesitate to contact us.
