Chris LeGrow of Topsail, Newfoundland, compiled his resume of adventure during his junior high school years. He and his friend took sailing lessons and eventually placed second in the national championship as members of Newfoundland and Labrador's laser II sailing team in 1995. Chris circumnavigated the globe during 1994-1995 as a member of a Class Afloat on the tall ship Concordia. He has since been sharing his enthusiasm for sailing as a coach for youths. And he has somehow found the time and energy to skydive and climb two-thirds of the way to the top of the tallest peak in the world, Mount Everest!
Chris could not resist the call of the sea and the magic of The Matthew. At age 20, with eight years of sailing experience already to his credit, he was accepted as one of the youngest members of the crew of the 15th century style caravel and joined 18 other men for the trip across the broad Atlantic during the summer of 1997. They were constant companions, sharing the challenge and excitement of retracing explorer John Cabot's historical trek from Bristol to Bonavista, and enduring its less glamorous aspects when the pomp subsided and the sea surrounded them.