Charlie Coulborn

Age: 29
Hometown: Gloucestershire, England
Hobbies: Kite surfing, sailing, water sports

Charlie Coulborn finds satisfaction in a tidy workshop, which helps him enjoy working at Ericsson Racing Team. “Compared to other yards I’ve worked in, it’s a lot neater and it helps you do a better job, hopefully,” he says.

Coulborn has been building boats since 2001 for various racing teams, from South Africa to the United States. In the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race, he was part of the shore crew for the Pirates of the Caribbean.

“When we weren’t with the boat, I kept in touch online with virtual spectator and I got text updates every eight hours,” he explains. “If your boat was suddenly 80 or 100 miles back, you knew something was wrong and there’d be a lot of work at the next stopover,” he says.

Yet he’s hoping to do it all again with Ericsson Racing Team. “I’d like to do another race, yes,” he says. During the last race there were complications for many of the teams with the new rules on builds – and Coulborn hopes that certain wrinkles in design and build have been ironed out.

If he does join the shore crew, he longs for a bit of vacation first. “I’d prefer to stop by a beach somewhere nice and hot and windy,” he says, to allow him to indulge his passion for kite surfing. “I quite enjoy working in and around the water which shows in the sports that I do – I’m not into football,” he says with a smile.

“The great thing about kite surfing is that you’re free to do what you like, as long as there’s wind. And it’s easy to take from place to place.” He’s found a few kite surfing buddies in the boatyard so there’s always an opportunity to talk about his favorite hobby.

As for how his friends would describe him? Coulborn reluctantly guesses: “I suppose they’d say I was pretty easy-going, quiet, and…neat.”