Martin Fordham MRIN,
Yachtmaster Ocean (RYA Instructor) Prinicipal
Martin is a professional mechanical engineer with over thirty year experience in the oil and gas industry. He was born with a love of water and boats and has a wide experience in sailing matters. Over 20 years dinghy racing at various levels as a member of Wraysbury Lake SC where he served in several capacities including Commodore, Sailing Secretary, Fleet Captain and Optimist Trainer. Over 25 years yachting, including delivery trips from Norway and west of France, to Germany and Denmark, crusies to the Azores, Ireland and the Baltic as well as prestigious racing events such as Round Britain and Ireland, many Fastnets and other offshore and inshore races. He has skippered yachts in several Engineering Challenge Cups including Spain, Croatia, Greece and Turkey. He is also a member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. More recently he has been competing in two handed yacht races such as the Triangle to Torquay, Cork and Treguier with Matthew. Martin is a member of the Royal Institute of Navigation and is Principal of Sailing Ventures, which he setup in 1995 in Lymington. The sailing school is a fully recognised RYA training centre. He can usually be found sailing out of Lymington in his Sweden 38 yacht with a group of like-minded sailors. Needless to say we hope Martin’s enthusiasm, experience and love of the see will enhance your sailing.

Matthew Fordham
Yachmaster (RYA Instruction)
Matthew is a Emergency Medical Technician (Ambulance man) working in and around the New Forest area. He has been sailing since his father, Martin, threw him into an Optimist aged 6 and progressed through many dinghy classes and into yachts as a teenager. He has competed in several RORC Fastnets and Channel Races as well as short-handed races such as the Triangle to Torquay, Cork and Treguier. Matthew has been teaching sailing, navigation and other related courses to RYA framework since Sailing Ventures formation in 1995. Matthew is also the Senior Instructor and Safety Officer at Sailing Ventures.

Carol Fordham
Office Manager
Carol is your first port of call from the office in Hordle. She enjoys looking after everybody and has been supporting us sailors for many years. Her own pastimes are cycling and walking but we do get her out on the yacht from time to time, her favourite sailing location is the BVIs in the Caribbean. Carol runs the office, takes the bookings, looks after the victualling and cooks the pre-prepared meals all with a smile. If you have any questions or just fancy a chat then Carol is the one to ask for.