Mick Johns

Mick is a British sailor with over 30 years of experience sailing the Baltic and the North Sea, accumulating around 80,000 miles, Mick spent most of his time teaching sailing. Scandinavia, with its 500,000 islands spread across beautiful archipelagos, offers some of the best cruising grounds in the world, although the season there is short. Fortunately, New Zealand and the Southeast Pacific also provide stunning cruising opportunities.

Micks sailing career truly began when he joined the British Kiel Yacht Club (BKYC) in North Germany, the gateway to the Baltic. The BKYC was an Adventure Sail training centre for service personnel, running expeditions and courses primarily in the Baltic and RYA courses in the North Sea. The BKYC excelled in seamanship and boat handling, including mooring in harbours under sail—a skill he mastered and is passionate about passing on through sailing schools and to those he sails with. He earned his RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Instructor certificate and later, his RYA Ocean. At 21 years old, he became the full-time skipper of a classic 56ft yacht from 1936.

In the early ’90s, he settled in Denmark with his wife and their four children. While working as an Offshore/Hydrographic Surveyor, he continued sailing on family boats, Laser dinghies, supporting his children in various regattas around Europe, and participating in events like the Tall Ships races.

As his children left home, he rekindled his passion for sailing and teaching, running a small sailing school in Denmark at a boarding school for 16-year-olds. There, he led annual sailing expeditions with up to 100 students to Greece, Croatia, and New Zealand. Seeing young sailors return as skippers has been extremely rewarding. He also served as Skipper and Maintenance Manager with the New Zealand Sailing Trust, sailing on the iconic Steinlager 2 and Lion New Zealand, empowering young New Zealanders and introducing them to all aspects of sailing as a platform for teamwork, leadership, resilience, and more. When Covid hit, he returned to Denmark and continues to run the sailing school there.

Today, his family co-owns a beautiful 60ft wooden ketch built in 1986. During Covid, they sailed her on an expedition following the Vikings' route to Newfoundland from Denmark via Norway, Shetland, the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland—an amazing adventure. He also volunteers as a skipper on Oceans of Hope, one of Chay Blyth’s Challenge 67’s, empowering people with Multiple Sclerosis and sharing sailing adventures.

He looks forward to more adventures with Ocean Sailing Expeditions, sail-training, exploring, discovering new places, and sharing his passion for sailing.