Navigating the World
We were delighted to welcome explorer Fergus McDonald to present to pupils from Chandlings Prep and Cothill last week and to the Trust Leadership Forum.
Following a career in the City, Fergus has pursued his love of mountaineering and sailing and fulfilled two lifelong ambitions - to climb Mount Everest and to sail around the world in a 1970s boat with no navigational aids. He may be the only living person to have achieved both of these feats, the second as the oldest member of his crew at the age of 59.
Fergus talked about his challenging but amazing trip navigating around the world in the Ocean Globe Race - Official over 8 months, covering nearly 30,000 miles. With 8 people on a small yacht, teamwork was essential and Fergus outlined the 3 key factors he believes are most important when taking on a challenge - desire, preparation and organisation. He also talked about risk and how he assesses whether or not to undertake his adventures which have also included 7 peaks in 7 continents. A raft (no pun intended!) of questions from both pupils and staff followed the talk and interesting discussions ensued about the importance of teamwork, leadership, resilience and risk-taking in our lives. It was a truly inspiring day for both pupils and staff.
