TRUSTEES & MANAGEMENT TEAM

Trustees

THE TRUST

The Excelsior Board of Trustees is made up of voluntary members of the community providing their time and expertise in acting as chair, treasurer, secretary, as well as fulfilling roles as overall trustees and associate members.

The Trust is committed to providing life affirming sailing experiences for those who would not necessarily be able to access it and to that end we have a highly committed and qualified management team supported by great team of experienced volunteers 

John Wylson

JOHN WYLSON, RIBA
FOUNDER/VICE PRESIDENT

(TRUSTEE)

Brought up in the Cinque Port of Rye, John has managed to combine a career as an architect with a love of the sea. Between major projects in London, he used to slip away to sea in the Home Trade, eventually as a mate and then skipper. There are few ports in Britain that John has not entered – with cargoes as varied as talcum powder and case beer! He bought Excelsior in Norway and spent 10 years of his spare time rebuilding the hull, before setting up the Trust to restore her back to sail. With an in-depth knowledge of traditional materials and techniques, John can fit a futtock or woold a ground rope!

Jamie Campbell
JAMIE CAMPBELL
CHAIRMAN
(TRUSTEE)

Jamie is a veteran Broads sailor and owner of the classic Broads sailing cruiser ‘Evening Flight’. He spent 25 years international yacht racing in 505, Flying Dutchman and Dragon classes and made guest appearances in shorthanded long-haul ocean races. Jamie says he ‘scribbles a bit’, but in reality, he is a published local and maritime author, and was a regular contributor to the much-loved ‘Anglia Afloat’ magazine with topics that had a maritime heritage theme. He is also the archivist of the Royal Norfolk Suffolk Yacht Club and an International 14 fleet historian.

John Irving
JOHN IRVING
COMPANY SECRETARY
(TRUSTEE)

John started sailing in muddy Essex creeks at an early age and progressed into offshore racing by sailing on a succession of racing dinghies and yachts, eventually taking part in many international offshore events throughout the UK, Europe and the United States. A member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, he got through the infamous 1979 Fastnet race having turned a 40 foot yacht upside down in the middle of the Irish Sea in storm force conditions.


John turned away offers to sail professionally and pursued a career in management consultancy instead. He was a volunteer at the London 2012 Olympic sailing regatta, assisting competitors both on and off the water. Now retired, he’s still not sure if he made the right decision!

John Irving
ALICE TAYLOR
(TRUSTEE)

Alice Taylor was born in Norwich but has lived all over the world and retired to her hometown of Lowestoft. She has trained and worked in Military Intelligence as a Russian language interceptor, in marketing and advertising, and as a lecturer in digital graphics, animation and video game design.


She has a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration and is a qualified teacher in both the US and the UK.  Alice has worked in a variety of professional settings and has served in the Lowestoft Town Council and as the Mayor of Lowestoft. She is presently a Trustee in the Excelsior Trust and the deputy chair of Lowestoft Vision.  Her hobbies include a deep interest in art, Lowestoft maritime history, and the art and  science of running a retail business.

Mark Trevitt
(TRUSTEE)

Former co-owner of Excelsior and Founder Member of the Trust.


Spending his early years living in Beccles on the southern edge of the Norfolk Broads, Mark cannot remember the first time he went afloat. Since then he has sailed whenever the opportunity arose, mostly in historic gaff rigged cutters and ketches, interspersed with being part of the racing crew on modern yachts. When not sailing he has spent many hours re-building, maintaining and working on a number of traditional vessels from clinker dinghies to Thames barges.


Mark has an honours degree in civil engineering and is a Chartered Engineer. He has spent much of his professional life maintaining, designing and building port infrastructure. He worked on the building of the current Lowestoft Harbour Bridge, on the re-alignment of Mutford Bridge and the renovation of Mutford Lock. He owned and ran his own consultancy firm for twenty-five years.


Mark bought a half share in Excelsior on her return to Lowestoft in 1972. He spent ten years of his spare time restoring Excelsior’s hull with John Wylson. Mark is the only surviving subscriber to the Excelsior Trust, and acted as secretary throughout the Trusts’

early years. He has now re-joined as a Trustee and member of the management team.

Gerry Skews
(TRUSTEE)

Initially trained as an electronics engineer with Philips and with a post graduate degree in business administration. Gerry spent 20 years working in life science and medical technology research in the UK, France and the USA.


In 1999 he founded a company in Cambridge that developed some of the most advanced medical imaging technology for detecting and treating eye disease.


He retired to Lowestoft in 2015 with his boat (and wife), bought and renovated a traditional heritage smokehouse to re-introduce the ancient art of smoking foods, Having retired yet again, he now works as a business consultant & coach.


 Gerry kept a keen interest in both sailing and aviation, owning boats for most of that time in the North East and the East Coast of the UK and Northern France. Despite the fact that most of his time afloat was spent with the benefit of "engines" and the guilt associated with that, he has always maintained a connection to traditional sailing vessels and sailing techniques.

 

He comes to the Trust with one eye to the future to help improve the experience and life chances of all potential sailors. He fervently believes that sailing of all varieties enhances life, and the more people that experience time afloat the better.

Mary George
MARY GEORGE
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Mary’s extensive career in public relations has spanned many genres including the arts, travel and tourism. She spent two decades working for a mental health charity and realised the value of challenging the horizons of young people who faced difficult situations in their everyday life. Mary promotes the trust throughout East Anglia and is always seeking out new opportunities to ensure that the Excelsior Experience is available to as many individuals as possible.

Mary George
FRANCESCA KITTO-JONES

SALES & ADMINISTRATION

Francesca’s first introduction to sailing was as a teenager on a family flotilla holiday in Greece. A couple of attempts at dinghy sailing later and having gained considerable capsizing skills, she joined the 2019-2020 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race as a circumnavigator raising money for Turn to Starboard, the forces’ sailing charity. In between these and other adventures she has had a 20+ career in broadcasting, living and working in London. Now relocated to Norfolk and wanting to work in the charitable sector, she found The Excelsior Trust where she can put her interest in sailing and organisational skills to good use.


Francesca can be contacted at: sailing@excelsiortrust.co.uk ; Tel: 07821 281950


John Irving
CHARLOTTE HATHAWAY
EXCELSIOR SKIPPER

Charlotte comes from a background in youth work and the traditional music industry in Scotland; but after a career break in Martinique where she bought a boat and sailed single-handed round the Lesser Antilles, she decided to make a change and take up sailing professionally.


She's had adventures in Iceland, the Caribbean, France and the Mediterranean and made it several times across the Atlantic. Now she has returned to the UK, and her main passion: working with young people.

John Irving
KAROL PETRYKA
YARD & REFIT MANAGER

Karol was born in Lodz, Poland and started sailing on the Polish lakes at age 6. He was a skipper and sailing instructor during high school. 

In 2012 Karol graduated from the Marine Academy in Szczecin, Poland.

 He spent three years on Superyachts as Deckhand and Bosun, six years on Tall ships as Bosun and 3rd officer and two years in the merchant navy as a trainee officer. Karol started working for Excelsior Trust in March 2015 as Bosun, then Mate, then Skipper and is now Excelsior's  Yard &Refit Manager.


Matthew Perring
MATTHEW PERRING
JOBSHARE CREW

Matthew has a passion for traditional historic working boats and broads sailing. A bawleyman through and through, growing up around the East coast looking at red sails he was once responsible for sailing barge Cambria, the last ever sailing barge to trade under sail. He sails a friend’s 1906 Leigh cockle bawley on the Suffolk coast and crews Norfolk Trading Wherry ‘Maud’, the last clinker built Wherry afloat. Matthew has been relief crew on Excelsior throughout the summer season including relief Bosun  In the past he has worked in various youth organisations teaching young people new skills.

Mary George
HARRY MORFITT
BOSUN

Harry has a passion for all things hands on and outdoors, starting from a young age in scouting and later doing his engineering apprenticeship. After sailing with the Excelsior crew in the summer as much as a full-time job would allow, Harry found a real passion for sailing and historic ships, later joining Excelsior full time in 2022 for a role as winter bosun. In 2023 Harry was appointed Bosun for the summer season.

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