Wood's Mini mission

From the North West Passage to Mini yacht racing. It’s an unconventional but fascinating 'career move’ for 32-year-old Penzance sailor Andrew Wood, who last year bought Nick Bubb’s 21ft Mini Transat boat.
 
Andrew, aka Woody, has an unusual and impressive background and is definitely one to watch. After studying jazz and photography at college, he helped his father build their 42ft steel yacht Norwegian Blue, after which he sailed to New Zealand and returned via the North West Passage with his father and girlfriend Zoë. They were the first ever crew to make it through the North West Passage in one season and the voyage earned Andrew the Royal Cruising Club Seamanship Medal and the RYA Yachtmaster of the Year Award in 2004.
 
This year he begins a campaign towards the Les Sables Azores and back race and ultimately the Mini Transat in his boat, renamed Domosofa.com. In answer to my enquiry ‘How’s your new boat?’ he says: “Very dusty and a lot of hard work!”
 
“GBR 500 is undergoing major surgery right now as I'm putting a new, simpler and much lighter carbon mast on as well as lightening the bulb and adding some new longer rudders. This will enable me to have a much larger foresail area which I believe will generally make her a lot better in lighter winds.
 
Check out Andrew’s progress here.