Everything is actually going according to plan for Angel Collinson: the young woman is a professional skier and specialises in spectacular big mountain descents, where athletes race down steep, untouched slopes. Collinson is making a career for herself and is a star in her world. She has major sponsors and is one of the few women in her discipline.
Then the turning point: she falls on a particularly difficult slope, rolls over several times and miraculously survives almost unharmed. It was a wake-up call. She ends her sports career and devotes herself to her long-cherished dream: sailing.
For almost two years, she travelled the Atlantic with her partner - and found her new lifestyle in long-distance sailing. We talked to her about courage, fear and setting off into the unknown.
YACHT: Angel, how can we imagine the job of a big mountain skier?
Angel Collinson:Together with other athletes and cameramen, you fly in helicopters to the foot of a mountain and look from below to see exactly where you can ski down the slope. You have to remember this because you can't see anything from the top as it is so steep and protruding rocks block the view. You look with binoculars, take photos and observe the snow conditions. Then you are flown up, go through everything again in your head and are then filmed from the helicopter and from below during the descent. The production of these ski films is one of the ways to earn money from skiing. They are an important part of the ski community, as they show the tricks of the pros and what the current level is.
So skiing was your profession?
Exactly. It took me two to three years to reach the top league.
Then you had a bad fall, which you were lucky to survive. Was that what prompted you to put your skis in the corner and go sailing instead?
When that happened, I had been ready to stop skiing for a while. For a long time, it didn't seem like a wise idea as it was going so well. I was successful, but I didn't like at all that my sport had become my job. I was trying to figure out what I could do instead. Because of the fall, I was busy with rehab and physiotherapy and for the first time ever I had time to think about it.
But then there was another drive. Which one?
Whilst I was recovering from the knee injury, I met my partner Pete. On our second date, we found out that we both had a dream of sailing around the world with a partner. On our third date, he taught me to sail, and on our fourth, we asked each other, "What if we just bought a boat and did it?" I had the money, he had the experience and the knowledge. That's when I finally knew: now is the time to go!
On our fourth date, we asked ourselves: 'What if we just bought a boat and sailed off? That was the moment!"
Was that difficult or did the joy of the adventure outweigh the difficulties?
I realised that a window of opportunity was opening up. I had been dreaming of spending a large part of my life on the water ever since I was invited on a sailing trip at the age of 25: It felt great! I also realised that I couldn't switch to a desk job after skiing, but would need something equally intense and exciting. Something that would be a new, super adventurous chapter - without being scared to death all the time.
Were you really scared to death all the time?
The type of skiing I did involves a high level of risk that you have to manage all the time. You know your skills, but something happens and you fall. It's scary up there. You have to deal with that fear all the time. I got tired of it.
That sounds very strenuous. How long can you keep it up?
Some people like exactly that, it makes them feel very alive. They do it for a really long time. That's how I felt at first, but I don't necessarily need it. It was more of a great experience to be in this huge environment. Being in nature is super important to me. I've spent almost every day outside for the last ten years. That was great.
What strategies did you use to combat your fear? As a sailor, can you learn anything from this for hairy situations?
What helped me the most was the realisation that I can't ignore my fear. One of my strategies was to visualise myself asking the fear to sit at a table with me. I then listen to what it has to tell me, but don't let it take the wheel. That way it doesn't become overpowering.
Is there another trick?
Instead of always thinking about what could go wrong, you need to ask yourself: "What can I do right now?" And then focus all your attention on that. This can also be applied to sailing: you can't let the big picture, such as an approaching storm, drive you crazy. Instead, you need to focus on one thing at a time. Breathing and meditation also help! The better prepared you feel, the better.
Compared to the kind of outdoor sport you've been doing, even ocean sailing probably still feels relatively safe as a novice - right?
Yes, much safer! When you're skiing, you stand at the top of a steep slope and look down. You feel all the pressure when the command comes from the helicopter: "Three, two, one - go, go, go!" And that's exactly when you have to go. Sailing is different. A lot happens there too, and you have to pay a lot of attention. But not everything happens so quickly - at least not on our somewhat aged boat(laughs).
Is that why you opted for a steel long keel for the trip, to maximise the feeling of safety?
Yes! But I had no worries, Pete is an experienced sailor and comes from a family that has sailed across the Atlantic several times.
Your tour of the North Atlantic was your introduction to sailing and began with a crossing from west to east. That's not exactly the easiest route to start with. Why this trip?
That's right, we actually wanted to go to the Caribbean at the beginning! However, we couldn't start until spring as I still had to finish the skiing season. So it was too late for the Caribbean, it would have been a race against the approaching hurricanes. It seemed safer to sail across the Atlantic than to the Caribbean.
The trip was your first time on the high seas. How was it?
I was nervous! I'd never been offshore before, never seen a country. It was the great unknown. I had no idea what it would feel like, no idea how difficult it would be to cook. We had also been working on the boat until the last minute, so it wasn't until after we set sail that I tried to stow all our belongings, all our lives, on board. Then we immediately ran into heavy weather and hadn't even made room to sleep.
But everything went well?
It was the test of my seaworthiness!(laughs)While I was stowing below deck, I always went up briefly, got some fresh air, looked at the horizon, went back down, continued stowing, went up again, got some fresh air. "That sucks," I thought! Then we also had water in the bilge, which fortunately turned out to be fresh water from the tank. So the first time was tough - exactly what I was used to.
The first time on board was tough - exactly what I was used to. I wanted a new, adventurous chapter in my life"
Do you like life on board?
We have learnt on this trip what we like and what we don't like. Our thing is to be in one place for a while and then take a long trip to another place. The most important thing is that my life is very different and varied now. I like that a lot!
What is different than expected?
We thought that we wouldn't have so much to do on the boat when we were travelling if we put in a lot of work before we left. But of course we are constantly busy with repairs and hunting for spare parts.
You've already turned a hobby into a career. Is that also your plan for sailing now?
In fact, I first asked myself whether I could earn money sailing. I asked my sponsors if they were prepared to pay for expeditions with the boat. But then I realised that I wanted to see the long voyage as a break from work. Until we run out of savings or find a way to earn money while travelling.
Did you succeed?
It was trial and error. Many people on the road want to earn money with their lifestyle, with YouTube videos and Patreon. We tried that briefly, but it's not really my thing! From my experience in the ski and film industry, I know how much work is involved in capturing and editing everything. I hated the process, it never interested me. I said: "Pete, you're welcome to try, but I'm out."
But there is certainly a plan for the future, isn't there?
The plan is to separate work from sailing in order to keep the time on board as precious as it is. It should be leisure time! I knew that would be lost if we worked too hard to make money out of the sailing lifestyle. So now the boat comes ashore and we work for a while. Pete is a photographer, and I've trained as a health coach. I've done that before and I really enjoy it. We'll be sailing again in a few months.
So where will the journey take us? The boat is in Panama, the Pacific is within reach.
Exactly! That's where we want to sail to.
And then travelling the world on a part-time model?
Our dream is to be in these really remote places in the Pacific, anchoring and diving! We are now more interested in discovering the world by boat for as long as we feel like it - and for as long as possible! We don't have to go round the world at any price.
