About us

We are a collection of students studying at Cambridge. We all found the sea more exciting than the lab and our current mission developed from there. As a collection it really seems we are a joke without a punchline. A Ukranian, an Italian and an Englishman went into a yacht... Or, a physicist, a biologist and a chemist went to sea... Any suggestions welcome (and yes, the three of us go to pubs too).

Igor Gotlibovych (email) - MSci in Physics, PhD candidate. Yachmaster Ocean, RYA Instructor

Chilling on the Norfolk Broads

Started sailing dinghies in a landlocked city in Ukraine when I was 10. I guess my inspiration must have come from books, and I had read Bob Bond's excellent "The Handbook of Sailing" cover to cover before I even saw a sail.

After years of sailing on lakes, I joined the Cambridge Unviersity Yacht Club and worked my way through the qualifications - from Day Skipper theory to Yachtmaster Ocean and RYA instructor.

One of the memorable early trips with CUYC was a delivery across the North Sea to Norway - with the boat in bits on the planned departure day, unidentified leaks for a week and electronic work at 3am tied up to a rocky island. I have been spending as much time fixing boats as sailing them since.

I like a sailing challenge, be it technical or racing, and I seem to always find one even where others see a relaxed cruising trip - or is it finding me?

Giulia Tyzack (email) - MSci in Biology, PhD candidate. Yachtmaster Coastal. PADI Rescue Diver

Born in Italy, my very first sailing experience was in the crystal clear waters of the Arcipelago della Maddalena, Sardinia at the age of 15. After a few more courses and summer trips around the Med, I felt I needed to be able to go sailing any time I wanted and after quite a lot of thinking I decided to buy my very first boat, together with my friend Nino. It was March 2007 when we finally found the perfect boat for us: she is a fast 470, she is called Buh and she’s been one of my biggest loves.

After a few seasons spent sailing Buh at every possible occasion, in 2010 I left the familiar non-tidal waters of the Med and I moved from Milan to Cambridge to start my PhD. During my first summer here I went on my first trip with the Cambridge University Yacht Club, a fantastic North Sea crossing on Kestrel. Funny coincidence, it was on that trip that I met Igor and Matt; I would have never expected that we would have bought a boat together just a few years later! From then on I started getting more and more involved with CUYC, and I went sailing on Kestrel as much as my finances allowed exploring the waters of Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Scotland, Norway and of course the North Sea.

In 2012 I got my YM coastal and hopefully the offshore will come sometime soon!  After having been on the CUYC committee for quite a few years, I am now vice-commodore training and I take care of the training the club organises.

I have been fascinated by the sea and its creatures since I was very little, and when I am not sailing (or doing some science)  you’ll probably find me diving. Or in the pub, as someone suggested.

Likes: Puffins

Matt Scott (email) - MSci in Chemistry, PhD candidate. Yachtmaster Offshore, RYA Instructor

Watching the scenery in Norway, and a little snooze on deck

Excluding a couple of trips with my parents at a young age and a little pottering about in a Topper I first tried sailing in my second year as an undergrad. I was slow to get into it. To be honest, I mostly just went sailing to get out of Cambridge once in a while.

After starting my PhD, and having more free weekends, I decided to get more involved with sailing. I went nearly every weekend until I took my Yachtmaster Costal in 2011. It was at that point I feel I really started to learn to sail. As skipper I have lead a number of trips. I think my favourite passages were a sleepless dash to Dublin, a selection of rewarding legs between the Canaries and up the coast of Morocco and a windy trek out to Shetland and back last summer - with a much needed celebratory whisky in Scalloway!

I attained my Yachtmaster Offshore at the start of 2013, and followed that up with the Cruising Instructor qualification later the same year. Instructing sailing is a new challenge, and certainly an interesting one!

In my spare time I am involved with running the Cambridge University Yacht Club (CUYC). As VC sailing I organised last summer's trip to Scotland. I tried to help improve the boats in my role as Bosun and currently, to give Dan a break, I have found myself as Commodore.
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Dislikes: Porkpies!