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The Committee
Tim is an avid sailor with a strong interest in family history. Tim organised a series of events in 2022 to mark the 150th Anniversary of the last great tea race race between Thermopylae and Cutty Sark.
Tim is responsible for the overall strategy of how the Committee can best support the organisers of Tall Ships Races - Aberdeen to ensure more is learnt about the history of Aberdeen’s Shipyards, its Tall Ships, and its innovation. Tim’s main goal is to create a website that leaves a lasting historical reference raise funds for Aberdeen’s Sea Cadets.
By day, Tim is a Chartered Surveyor responsible for delivering land for residential, industrial and renewable energy projects.
Max participated in a Tall Ships Race in 1993 and is a keen yachtsman. He is leading the engagement with the wind and renewable energy sectors for the Winds of Change Dinner and content on innovation for the website.
Max is a renewable energy specialist and has experience in wind energy and tidal energy sector. As an engineer who graduated in his home city of Edinburgh, he has a good knowledge of the technology past and present that Aberdeen is famous for.
James is an experienced yachtsman with experience competing in many yacht races, including with the Royal Navy Cadets whilst at school so he recognises the benefits participation on a Tall Ship brings for a young person. He has created the website and continues to update it with news and further information.
James is helping achieve the Committee’s goal of not only providing background information for the Tall Ships Races, but a historical resource as a lasting legacy. By day James manages the branding and e-commerce activities of a manufacturing company.
Stan is a distinguished maritime historian based in Aberdeen and has written various volumes and articles documenting the shipbuilding industry in Aberdeen, and other heritage of the northeast. Stan is responsible for providing historical content for the website, heritage trail and display boards.
Stan is also a Principal Surveyor in the Oil and Gas sector and previously worked for Hall Russel Ltd Shipbuilders and Engineers as a ship draughtsman and assistant construction manager.
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The Sea Cadets are a national youth charity for 10 -18-year-olds with the goal of equipping young people for life today. Lieutenant Ritchie is the Commanding Officer and takes the overall responsibility for the training programme for the Aberdeen cadets based at TS Scylla in Footdee.
Lieutenant Ritchie acts at the main liaison between the Committee and the Sea Cadets in terms of providing input to the Tall Ships events and guiding the Committee fundraising goals.
Lucy first visited the Tall Ships Races in St Malo, France in 1995 and went on to sail the South Pacific some years later.
Lucy is the Committee’s lead in coordinating educational content aimed at young people. She is a teacher and has three children, one of whom is joining a crew sailing to Aberdeen during Tall Ships Races 2025.
Robert has previously created websites for other voluntary organisations and handled communications for an Antarctic Expedition.
He is coordinating the overall website and communications strategy.
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Robert is a geologist. He has experience in exploration geology, hi-tech engineering start-ups and is currently involved in manufacturing FMCGs. He has sailed, in a very amateur fashion, since an early age and followed the Parade of Sail at the Falmouth Tall Ships Regatta of 2014.
James was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire in 2010 – 2020 and was the Queens’ personal representative in Aberdeen. He is a past Chairman of the Northeast Landowner’s Federation and the North East’s Sail Training Association. He is responsible for business liaison and assisting with sponsorship for the Tall Ships events,
James is passionate about the opportunity Tall Ships Races has to profile the current and historic innovations of Aberdeen and also supports the work the Committee are doing to support Sea Cadets Aberdeen. He currently runs a 1,200 acre organic farm.
Andrea has experience of working with the Team on an Antarctic Expedition and coordinates the AL200 Committee’s agendas, meetings, and minutes. Andrea is helping with coordination of the committee’s input to the Winds of Change Dinner.
By day, Andrea is an Executive Assistant at the University of Cambridge and has a keen interest in sailing, having participated in the Cowes race a few times. Andrea is now learning how Sail Training Ships can benefit young people.
Jane is the great-great-great granddaughter of George Thompson who founded the Aberdeen Line. Jane is a life-long Aberdonian and has an in-depth knowledge of the city, her family history, and the Aberdeen Line.
Jane is assisting with the heritage trail that the Committee is providing for the Tall Ships event.
Alastair was born and bred in Aberdeen and practices as a Chartered Surveyor within the city. He has a lifelong interest in commercial sail and has an extensive library on the subject including books, manuscripts, and photographs. He has a particular interest on sailing ships designed and built in Aberdeen.
As a Burgess of the City, A Member of the Shoemakers Incorporation, part of the Seven Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen and the acting secretary of the Rotary Club of Aberdeen, Alastair acts as the liaison between the committee and various civic bodies with Aberdeen. He is also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland a Member of the Council for Scottish Archaeology.
Peter has over 60 years in the merchant shipping industry and authored several papers and The Aberdeen Line: George Thompson Jnr’s Incomparable Shipping Enterprise.
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He has held senior posts at Trinity House, is a Liveryman of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners, and a Fellow of both the Nautical Institute and the Society for Nautical Research, where he serves on the Council.
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Peter is providing details for the website and historical displays, and assisting in digitising his book for researchers and interested parties.
David Henry
Heritage & Historical Lead
David is Chairman of the Dundee Heritage Trust and a Trustee of the Royal Scottish Geographic Society. He has been involved with the custodianship of the Discovery which carried Scott & Shackleton to the Antarctic.
David is leading on the historical input for the website, display boards and will give a history presentation at the Winds of Change dinner. He is a Town Planning Consultant based in the Scottish borders advising on major planning applications across Scotland and England.
Lisa Honan CBE
Heritage Trail Lead
Lisa Honan CBE began her career in development - living, working and travelling in countries including Kenya, Thailand and Nepal. Now, she is a qualified City of London guide, and runs her own company, Walking London Tours Ltd. She curates walks about Britain’s Empire, including tours about the East India Company and about the history of tea. She is also the U.K. Tea Academy’s Tea History specialist. And, with playwright Dr Anu Kumar, she dramatised her EIC tour for the Jaipur Literature Festival at the British Library in 2024.
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During Lisa’s diplomatic career, one of her roles (between 2016-2019) was as the Governor of St Helena, Ascension Island, and Tristan da Cunha. She was the first (and so far only) woman to hold this post in five hundred years of St Helena’s history. For nearly two hundred years St Helena was run by the East India Company.
The Sponsors
The Worshipful Company of Shipwrights
The Worshipful Company of Shipwrights is one of the ancient livery companies of the City of London, established in the late 14th century to represent and support the shipbuilding profession. Originally a guild of skilled craftsmen building and repairing ships, it played a crucial role in England’s maritime development. Today, the company supports education, training, and charities connected to shipbuilding and maritime pursuits, continuing its legacy of promoting excellence in the shipbuilding trade.
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This website and other historical resources are kindly supported financially by the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, in particular the information that is included that increases awareness of the history and links to the tea trade and London docks.
Postcard Teas
Postcard Teas is a renowned tea merchant celebrated for its dedication to sourcing rare and high-quality teas from small farms across Asia. Since its founding, the company has emphasized transparency, building close relationships with tea producers to offer distinctive teas and share the rich cultural heritage of tea with customers worldwide.