Bermuda Day Grand Marshal 2015 – An Atlantic Garden
As a child, Glenn’s father would always take him to watch the Edward Cross Long Distance Comet Race on the Queen’s Birthday holiday in June. He admired Howard Lee in High Yella and was a great fan of his. When he was about 13 his friend Larry Ingham took him out sailing in one of the boats that his father had built. During summer holidays, he would sail from Somerset Bridge to town and back. That inspired him to build a sail boat in his woodwork class in high school.
As a teenager in school in New York, Glenn went to see the movie Jaws with his brother. Glenn was fascinated by the catamarans that the kids were sailing in the movie. When he returned to Bermuda, he bought a second hand Tornado and started racing in the Tornado class. He took part in the races week after week. Slowly, with persistence, he started to get better and better until he finally started winning regattas.
Glenn went to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles as an alternate to Alan Burland and Chris Nash. He later teamed up with Eddie Bardgett and they set their sights on qualifying for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. With this motivation and financial assistance from Duncan McBeath and Fritz Reiter, they achieved their goal.
Glenn’s advice to young people is to be passionate, be willing to listen to any advice you receive, hone your skills, enjoy your sailing and be willing to help others. You never know what opportunities may come as a result.
According to Mr. Astwood, these are exciting times in Bermuda with the
America’s Cup at our doorstep, and he is sure there will be great opportunities for Bermuda’s young sailors.
