Jaydon Owusu

Jaydon, aged nineteen, started his journey here at UKSA from just eleven years old, travelling down from his home in North London to take part in activity days with his school. Jaydon attended Grieg City Academy, which offered students the opportunity to visit the Isle of Wight each weekend to train in sailing professionally.

Jaydon had been sailing professionally for seven years before beginning his Cadetship in September 2023, participating in an impressive host of competitive events such as the Round the Island Race, the Fastnet and the 420 Nationals, to name just a few. During this time Jaydon also completed his AEC1 here at UKSA, with an interest in becoming an engineer.

After completing his A-levels and achieving a diploma in sporting excellence, Jaydon began to establish a keen interest in the superyacht industry, he learnt about UKSA’s Cadetship through his school and applied. Following a successful selection day, Jaydon secured his place here at UKSA. Recognising Jaydon’s talent and passion, The Edmiston Foundation generously offered funding, enabling him to enrol on the course.

“The funding I have received from Edmiston has allowed me to pursue my dream of becoming a superyacht captain, as well as making my family, friends and school proud. Without their generosity I wouldn’t be here. I come from a rough area of London which is fuelled by high crime rates and drug abuse – I worry I would have fallen into the wrong crowd if I wasn’t here today.”

Before kicking off the course in September, Jaydon secured a deckhand position on a Superyacht over the summer, further demonstrating how driven and diligent he is.

Jaydon has gone from strength to strength during his time here at UKSA.

“A highlight for me was the firefighting training, it was intense, but super fun to do it with my crew and course mates. Preparing for my Yachtmaster had to be my biggest challenge, I was very nervous beforehand, but passing the exam was amazing. It took hours for it to sink in that I had passed, it has been my biggest achievement here, I’m still on a high now.”

Already being a confident sailor prior to starting the course, Jaydon was keen to focus on perfecting his skills and developing his knowledge of seamanship and safety, as well as gaining more industry recognised qualifications.

“I have been provided with essential skills and now feel fully prepared to step out into the industry. I am now confident that I could tackle any challenges while at sea, and feel I could handle an emergency on board competently. I have had the opportunity to further develop my understanding of theory in the classroom, and I have strengthened my leadership skills while working with my crew.”

In May Jaydon is joining a superyacht as a deckhand, he is looking to gain as much experience as possible across all departments during his journey to superyacht captain.

“My long term aspiration is to become a superyacht captain, but I also hope to introduce young people that come from a similar background as me to the maritime industry. Growing up in London away from the sea, young people aren’t exposed to amazing roles such as coastguards, marine engineering, search and rescue teams and of course careers on superyachts and boats. I’d love to help educate young people about these career options so that they can consider them.”

Jaydon graduates from phase one of his UKSA Cadetship this week.

“I have met some great people, genuinely friends for life and I feel more prepared than ever to start my career.”