I hope you can help.

Up until a few days ago I was scheduled to join the five person crew of a 39' Shearwater that was to be entered in the cruising class of next year's race. When I got the invitation last year, I felt I needed more sailing experience so I took eight months off work and completed 3000 miles of cruising / racing and passed the RYA Yachtmaster offshore ticket this July.

I also put together £5,000 (R75,000) to contribute to my share of the costs, negotiated with my work to take January and February off, booked flights and arranged to borrow a friend's flat in Rio for after our arrival.

You can imagine my disappointment when the boat's owner decided, for business reasons, to withdraw his entry. Before I start unwinding all my arrangements, my hope is that you can advise how I might go about finding another place and even that you might be able to pass on my details to any who you are aware could use some additional support.

I am an enthusiastic and fit 47 year old Brit, 1.88m tall and 92kg. I work in a senior position in an ex South African mining company in London, having lived in SA from 77 to 94. I travel often and come to Joburg every few weeks so could easily arrange to meet up with any prospects.

I appreciate that this is not really your role and that you are probably inundated with such requests but I hope you have some way to act as advisor and broker in this case.

Best Regards
Dave Munro
djcmunro@aol.com