Daniel grew up in the small city of Port Lincoln, South Australia, known for its seafood and great waters for sailing, fishing and other ocean sports/activities. After starting out in Holdfast Trainers at 6 years of age, he moved into the 125 and pacer classes as a teenager as well as racing keelboats on his father’s Farr 30 and grandfather’s Adams 12.

After finishing high school, Daniel spent four years in the Australian Army as a Combat Engineer and Combat Fitness Trainer and represented the Australian Defence Force at regattas in the Tasar class. Upon discharging he moved back to Port Lincoln for a few years where he started racing keelboats and training young sailors on a Sydney 32 before moving to Adelaide for a career in the property industry.

For a while, Daniel spent some time away from sailing after taking up endurance running and competed in a number of marathons and ultra-marathons including the Marathon Des Sables in 2015 (265 kms across the Sahara desert over 6 days) and is known as the toughest footrace on the planet.

After obtaining his goals in endurance running, his thoughts turned towards the sea once more as he wanted to achieve some of the offshore sailing goals he had as a child. He purchased the Sayer 11 Team Runaway and began refitting the yacht to compete in the 2018 Melbourne to Osaka Yacht race.

Daniel and co-skipper/legend Tom Crabb ended sailing well in the race finishing 4th over the line and 4th on handicap however sold the yacht afterwards once it arrived back in Australia. Since this time he has again taken a bit of time out of the water due to the financial commitment of such a big race.

Whilst I have always dreamed of competing in a circumnavigation, I have never been in a position to consider it feasible and so when Don created the Class Globe 580 event, my excitement began to grow quickly and as such quickly purchased plans with hull #5 being allocated to me.

As a husband, father of three and amateur builder with plenty of commitments I certainly will not be the first hull to be constructed but with a high motivation and a very supportive team around me I am sure there are plenty of adventures to be had in the yacht in the not too distant future!

Daniel Turner