Rev Bob Shepton

The Reverend Bob Shepton is a legendary figure within the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC), celebrated for his extraordinary high-latitude expeditions and his unwavering spirit of adventure. A member since 1985, he was elected an Honorary Member in 2022, a testament to his lifelong contribution to the cruising community.

Shepton is perhaps best known for his "double" transit of the Northwest Passage in his 33ft Westerly Discus, Dodo's Delight. He remains the only sailor to have traversed this treacherous route in both directions in consecutive years (2012 and 2013), a feat for which he received the OCC's Barton Cup in 2014. His sailing career, which spans over 150,000 miles, includes a circumnavigation via Antarctica and Cape Horn with a group of school leavers, as well as 15 Atlantic crossings.

In recognition of his "decades of high latitude sailing combined with extreme mountain climbing," the OCC honoured him with the Lifetime Award in 2023. He has also been a multi-time recipient of the Vasey Vase. Beyond his technical skill, the OCC values Shepton as a leading expert on Greenland's waters, where he famously used his yacht as a base camp for mountaineering teams, embodying the club's ethos of adventurous blue-water cruising.