Ralph Villiger s/v Ntombifuti

For his unusual exploratory passages of the East Coast of Greenland

Ralph Villiger is a 39-year-old Swiss mathematician and also holds a MSc in mathematical finance from Oxford University. He owns his own consultancy business to the pharmaceutical industry and manages a fund dedicated to the development of cancer therapeutics in the UK.

Ralph started sailing at the age of 18 without his family being linked to sailing in any way. In 2003 he purchased Ntombifuti, a 40' aluminium sloop designed by Ed Dubois and with quite a history in the British short-handed circuit. He has always sailed short-handed, but only took up single-handed sailing when forced to deliver Ntombifuti to England and without having additional crew due to delays. After having sailed AZAB 2011 and OSTAR 2013 he now focuses on combining sailing with his second passion, mountaineering. Back in Switzerland he also runs his own winebar and produces the Swiss Blended Gin nginious!. He is currently in Patagonia.