Speech by a former young crew member
Jonathan Pinnock (JP) first sailed with Ocean Youth Trust South when he was thirteen years old, as part of a group organised by a school working with young people with severe dyslexia. More than twenty years later he is still a supporter, a donor and an ambassador. In 2025, for the first time, he accepted an invitation to speak on behalf of the charity, at a dinner arranged by the Seven Seas Baxter and Grimshaw Trust. He has kindly given us permission to reproduce the text of his speech here.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and thank you Ray for inviting me this evening.
My name is Jonathan Pinnock. I am a fuel dealer from landlocked West Berkshire: I like to say I am a lorry driver with a business, not businessman with lorries!
I could talk to you this evening about some of the amazing sailing I have done with OYT South: watching a winchman being lowered on the deck from a Sea King helicopter during a training exercise, or coming on watch at 3 in the morning in the middle of the North Sea and sailing into the sunrise.
Or how I built and now run a business with a multi-million pound turnover – with limited literacy skills.
But I am going to talk about my struggles with dyslexia and a very difficult time in my life.
I have battled all my life with severe dyslexia, and mainstream education almost destroyed me. As a practical person, writing pages of pointless paperwork to do Blue Peter-style design tech projects, and getting marked on the paperwork was heartbreaking. Having chatted with my 13-year-old stepson, it has not changed.
I first became interested in sailing in after doing some dinghy sailing, and my mum read me the Swallows and Amazons books, I first sailed with OYT South in 2003, on a one-week school trip from Southampton to Brixham and back again on John Laing, OYT South’s previous boat.
In one week I found a new natural environment: a place where reading and writing are only a very small part of the task – and the writing is only a logbook entry. I am judged on my ability to do the task well, not how well I write an essay about it! By the end of the week I was leading my watch, hoisting the mainsail. Leadership and communication skills learnt from sailing are something I still use in my business every day.
I have carried on being involved with OYT South for many years now as a shore-based volunteer and a donor. One of the amazing advantages of volunteering is getting to meet lots of other amazing volunteers from all walks of life – from medical students to the finance director of a large PLC.
For me, another part of sail training is the amazing friends I have made. I was really struggling back in early 2019 when my Dad was terminally ill with cancer. Me and dad had a close family, bonded closer by both being men of fuel. A weekend away, helping to clean and prepare the boat for the coming season, made an amazing difference to me. Having a weekend not thinking about cancer and the imminent heartbreak. I felt like a ton had been lifted off me.
So what made such a difference to me?
* A change from the normal.
* Having a common goal.
* Being social with other people.
* Enjoying a meal together.
* Achieving something tangible.
* Real life experiences.
* Overcoming challenges.
The effect is much the same for young people who often lack some or all these things in daily life.
Sadly with the rise of technology and the after-effects of the Covid 19 pandemic, things are getting worse! The OYT South philosophy is not about getting young people to be excellent sailors but to use sailing as personal development journey.
As someone who is now aged 37 I look at my stepchildren and see life is very different from growing up in the early 2000s. Mobile devices are as addictive as cocaine. Less children and young people have real life adventures. Luckily there are some amazing charities like OYT South that are helping young people get outside and off their devices.
Just like the Seven Seas Club I provide a bursary, for young people from West Berkshire to go sailing with OYT South; and we provide all the oils and antifreeze free of charge to the Trust.
Picture shows JP (left) with Ray Kay and James Cameron-Wood, president of the Seven Seas Club
