Captain Robbie Fox awarded John Percival Leadership Award 2020

Crew training centre JPMA is pleased to annouce captain Robbie Fox as the winner of the John Percival Leadership Award for 2020, following his nomination by Jonny Carswell.

Carswell said in a statement:

When I joined M/Y Maraya, it was my first job on board a superyacht, and it is known that getting your first role is easier said than done. It takes risk to employ someone with near to no experience but Robbie, as captain, believed in me and this was a taste of how incredible he is.

“10+ years in the industry, working on some of the most prestigious yachts, Robbie was never arrogant. He took pride in bringing the best out of the crew and especially me, who struggled to learn the basics, but he never shouted, and instead took me under his wing and showed me the ropes.

“There were times where we all found it hard, but Robbie made sure to always take us aside on our own and make a plan to resolve and learn from either our mistakes or upsets.

“I’ve met a lot of people in my life but Robbie Fox is the best leader and role model I have ever met, and with his support, my ambition to become a captain is slowly but surely becoming a reality.

If anyone deserves this award it is him. He showed me tender driving, safety and security drills, how to blow up an inflatable slide, which is an absolute pain but we had many laughs. But the main thing he said to me is ‘yachting can be fun, however safety is always paramount’. From then on safety has always been my number one priority, and as I grow in my career, I will follow that with my crew. It should be installed into everyone from day one.”

On hearing the news that he had won the award, Fox said:

“What a lovely and unexpected honour. Some incredibly kind words there from Jonny, whose generous praise is equalled only by his infectious good nature.

“I was fortunate enough to actually meet John Percival on a couple of occasions. It was inspiring for me to watch the way he passed on the kind of experience he had to his students and I was always struck by his drive to promote and encourage on-board learning.

“To be given a leadership award in his memory is a great feeling but it’s really just a testament to him and others like him that I’ve been lucky enough to work with and learn from in the past.

“Though it can be difficult to imagine, even the most experienced leaders have been junior crew members at some point, and no one moves up the ranks without others sharing their knowledge along the way. If it can be done as John did it - with humility and genuine encouragement - then all the better. I am only one of the countless seafarers he inspired. If there were more like him, the world would be a better place!”

Now in its seventh year, the nomination critera for the award can be found here.

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