In 2004 Stuart Boreham was the first physically handicapped person in the world to row single handed, unassisted and unsupported across the Atlantic ocean.

From an early age cerebral palsy had left Stuart spastic in his lower limbs. However, what he lacks in strength in his limbs he has made up for in strength of determination and will to succeed.

Stuart has always been keen to show that he is as able as others, but for him taking part in sports invariably meant supporting his friends from the sidelines. Despite the challenges that Stuart has had to overcome, including prejudice and discrimination during his early corporate career, Stuart has maintained a healthy Self Regard (decile 5) and developed a strong sense of Personal Power (decile 7). “I take the philosophy that everybody is able to do something. The one thing I learnt very much on the trip, I doubted that I would get there several times and the biggest single thing that I learnt during the journey was that achievement in any walk of life is about self belief.”

Stuart combines his self belief with an extremely strong focus on what he sets his mind on achieving (Goal Directness – decile 9). Wheel chair bound, following a motor racing accident, a chance meeting with Sir Chay Blyth eventually led to Stuart being accepted to take part in the BT Global Challenge 1996-97 round the world yacht race, sailing on board a boat which was crewed entirely by people with a disability or who had overcome a life-threatening illness. In the run up to the event, Stuart achieved another ‘first’, when – in April 1996 - he drove a fully working ride-on lawnmower from John O’Groats to Land’s End.

After completing the yacht race Stuart set his sights on becoming the first physically disabled person to row an ocean. Having raised sponsorship of £82,000 in order to have a suitable boat built, equipped and provisioned for the journey, as well as preparing himself physically and mentally for the challenge, Stuart rowed out from La Gomera, Canaries and began his epic journey. The 3341 mile crossing to Barbados took 109 days, during which time he overcame numerous difficulties such as electrical failure, sore hands and infected feet and a lengthy storm that saw winds of up to 50 mph and waves of 45 feet in height batter him and his boat for five days.
Heavy seas and high winds proved a huge physical challenge during the trip but it was the mental challenge that really surprised Stuart.

“It was a huge mental challenge, far bigger than I imagined. I knew from the outset that the mental side of it was going to be harder than the physical side, and it was a huge mental challenge. “

Stuart explains his decile 7 score on Emotional Expression – under controlled - as “ I will wear my heart on my sleeve, but will then move on”. This is supported by his Emotional Resilience score (decile 6), which is perhaps just as well given how hard he can be on himself and his tendency to alternate between over optimistic (decile 9) and pessimistic (decile 8) on Balanced Outlook. “I set out with the intention of completing the voyage in 80 days and when I got going, I had a lot of bad weather, I was taken back towards Africa twice, which cost me 12 days in total, and I then realised that I couldn't do it in 80 days and indeed it took 109. And at that point when I realised I wouldn't be able to do it in 80 days I got into a massive depression; I thought that I'd let myself down, I'd let down everybody that was following me and so on”. It would appear to be his Goal Directedness that kept him going. “I was at sea for 109 days, but for 100 of them I thought I wouldn’t make it. However I knew I wouldn’t give up”. From the outset Stuart never doubted that the project would work and the fact that he only took 100 days worth of food was perhaps an indication of his optimism!

Despite having built a solid support team, Stuart’s strong determination to achieve and prove his own abilities is perhaps reflected in his decile 9 score on Overindependent. Stuart spent four months rowing single-handedly across the ocean; perhaps this was a positive attribute!

So what's next for the intrepid adventurer?
Stuart is a highly capable conference and motivational speaker - using his experiences as metaphors for his presentations which, whilst based on the central theme that ability lies within us all, cover a variety of topics including motivation, achieving success, overcoming adversity, leadership, team building, communication, diversity and personal development.

"What I want to do now is share the story with as many people as possible to motivate and inspire them to do something, whatever they seek in their life. People have disabilities in various ways but everybody whether disabled or able bodied can do something."

Athens 2004 Olympic Torch Relay - In recognition of the inspirational example to others, set through his successful solo transatlantic ocean row.

© Centre for Applied Emotional Intelligence 2006

EI Development from the CAEI

For EI development to be effective it needs to be:
Individual-oriented – because each person’s EI development needs are different
Developmental – starting with an assessment and continuing with supported development
About attitudes – developing emotionally intelligent attitudes and habits that lead to effective self and relationship management
Over time – to sustain the changes in attitudes and habits over the long term
Ethical – provided by qualified practitioners who have developed their own EI

For organisations: we either work with you to design and implement effective EI development programmes specific to your needs, or we run ‘Train the Trainer’ programmes to provide your organisation with people who have the necessary attitudes and skills to implement long-term EI strategies.

For individuals: we provide individual programmes for developing your personal EI, or practitioner courses if you are seeking to specialise in EI to help develop others.