After several back and forth across the Atlantic, the next sail was to New England where Mat met his wife Sarah Mae.
Now, two young children later, New England is home and summers are spent sailing in Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
About The Blue Peter
The Blue Peter was launched in 1930, although the teak used in the construction of her hull was brought from Thailand in 1870. Her first owner Desmond Molins decided in 1938 that he wanted a bigger boat, but he loved The Blue Peter so much that he decided to have her lengthened by nearly 10 feet. She remains true to these plans to this day.
She was named The Blue Peter for luck, after the ‘P’ flag, which is used as the preparatory signal before starting a race. It worked. She won over 50 races in and around the south coast of England over the next 20 years, sailing out of The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Burnham-on-Crouch.
The Blue Peter passed into Italian ownership after the war. She had three different Italian owners before her present owner, Mathew Barker, bought her in 1999.
Mat spent three years restoring The Blue Peter back to her former glory, using the original plans from Alfred Mylne & Co. to keep her as original as possible.
Having accomplished this he was faced with the decision of getting a real job again or trying to make money from the yacht which is how the charter business began.
The Blue Peter was a permanent fixture at all the Mediterranean regattas for many years, even winning a few of them.
Looking for a change of scene, Mat accepted a charter to race across the Atlantic in 2012, which was the start of a love affair with the Caribbean and its incredible sailing conditions.
