James Doughty is a classic example of the proverbial ‘chip off the old block’.

The Les-Roches University graduate is a third generation sailor, following in the wake of his late grandfather Alan and father Paul, whose name is synonymous with youth sailing development in Bermuda.

Mr Doughty, 28, is the first mate aboard the sail-training sloop, Spirit of Bermuda. It is a role he serves with a great sense of pride.

He originally started out as a volunteer aboard Spirit before venturing off to Spain to attend Les-Roches University.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, the Bermudian took up employment in London and Cambodia as a manager in the hotel industry.

But his passion for the sea ultimately got the better of him and after obtaining a captain’s licence in Southampton, England he rejoined Bermuda Sloop Foundation’s award-winning youth programme.

“At first I didn’t come in with the interest of working with youth,” he recalled. “But I had worked at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club teaching classes since I was about 15, so I have been teaching kids how to sail for quite awhile. There is definitely something special about working with kids.”

Mr Doughty became first mate aboard Spirit after predecessor Mario Swainson took up the offer to work in the same industry overseas.

“That is what is so cool about this programme,” he said. “It’s a programme that provides clear opportunities for Bermudians to go off and find a career in the maritime trade. And not just in Bermuda, but the whole world. It’s a great way to step up.”

Mr Doughty was born with sailing in his genes.

“When I was about six years-old my father used to have a little dinghy out in the yard that couldn’t even float,” he recalled. “But I used to play on it and rock back and forth and that was training for my sea legs.

“My father had a charter business back then and he used to always take me out sailing so I was always out on the water and around boats back then. It was almost natural that I ended up working in the industry.”

He cut his teeth sailing in the Optimist class and would go on to become a very accomplished sailor at that level.

“I was eight years-old when I started sailing Optimist at Windjammer in Dockyard,” he recalled. “I started racing Optimists from 12 years old to I was 15 and ended up going to three World Championships. I went to the North American Championships, South American Championships, United States National Championships as well as the Cork Regatta.”

After ageing out of the Optimist, Mr Doughty progressed to the double handed 420, winning a national title in the class to qualify for the Youth World Championships in Nova Scotia.

At the Youth Worlds he teamed up with compatriot Gareth Williams to sail in the double-handed 29er Skiff, which is the smaller cousin to the Olympic class 49er Skiff.

After achieving success in the 29er, including victory at the Cork Regatta, the pair progressed to the larger 49er fleet where they also managed to hold their own, competing with some of the best sailors in North America at that level.

“We were very good and progressed to the US Nationals and trained with the US national squad before progressing to the 49er,” he said.

Due to academic reasons, the team was forced to disband.

“Gareth and I were going different directions as far as university was concerned,” Mr Doughty said. “He went to university in California and I went to university in Spain, so we went our separate ways.”

He has been working full-time aboard Spirit for just over a year now.

Tomorrow he will set sail in the 49th Newport Bermuda Race on Spirit, which is sailing alone in the Spirit of Tradition Division. Spirit also participated in the previous Newport Bermuda Race.