Staring with sailing Optimists and 420’s in the Midlands, Nick caught the bug leading to an extensive and varied sailing career. Nick was match-racing through his degree in Naval Architecture at Southampton before being selected for the Artemis Offshore Academy in 2010 alongside the likes of Sam Goodchild and Will Harris.
Commenting on sailing solo for the first time, Nick says: “I had enjoyed offshore racing, but never really thought it was for me until I sailed by myself and was like, wow, that’s exciting. It then went on to occupy the next 10 years of my life.’’ Nick never quite took the leap of moving to France but became totally absorbed by the French offshore sailing scene, racing in La Solitaire du Figaro six times. He also ran several boats including a Fast 40 for Ed Fishwick doing a double handed Rolex Fastnet Race in 2015.
Moving to Lymington, Nick worked as a project manager at Fibre Mechanics for four years, gaining a wealth of experience in composites. When that project came to a natural clos, Nick joined the team at A+T Instruments to grow their Technical Support and Sales team. His diverse background in the sailing industry, both on- and offshore, has helped to shape him as a sailor and will prove invaluable in his position at A+T Instruments as he can talk, advise and relate to a diverse landscape of clients.
“All that I’ve learned in the Figaro, from navigating boats offshore and tight racing inshore, has given me a useful grounding, so when I’ve had the opportunity to sail onboard bigger yachts more recently, with a chart table and time to make key decisions, I can lean on my past experience.’’
He continues, “It’s great to be working alongside the absolute experts of instruments at A+T. When customers phone up from anywhere in the world with a challenge they need help solving, whether it takes us one day or ten days, there is always a solution, and it is incredibly satisfying being able to help from the other end of the phone.’’
Nick has an innovative engineering mind, and when not sailing, enjoys kite surfing, downwind foiling adventures and messing around with model boats and gliders. Last winter, he built a DIY e-foil in his shed which involved a lot of electronics, 3D printing and waterproofing.
“When customers phone up from anywhere in the world with a challenge they need help solving, whether it takes us one day or ten days, there is always a solution, and it is incredibly satisfying being able to help from the other end of the phone.’’
Nick cherry
2025 was a busy year for A+T Instruments. As well as welcoming Nick to the team, the latter part of the year saw an expanded product line-up through the launch of the highly requested 7’’ full colour display; a product with versatility at its core. The QBD7 can be mounted in landscape or portrait orientation and supplied with buttons to operate as an MFD, or without as a stand-alone display, making it a great option for big boats next to the helm station, or as a mast display on smaller boats such as Cape 31s.
2026 will bring more product development both on and off the water. Nick will be at all of the major
events throughout the season; you will see him on the dock and racing in Palma at the Superyacht
Cup, the Maxi Worlds in Porto Cervo and Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez.