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And the winner of the

PBO Project Boat is...

A knock on the head while surfi ng convinced 29-year-old

Anna Millington that she was dreaming when she was

later notifi ed about winning the PBO Project Boat

A

nna Millington, an

electronics engineer

from Ferndown, Dorset,

has won the PBO Project Boat,

the Snapdragon 23 Hantu Biru.

She had been following the

boat’s restoration since

becoming a PBO subscriber a

year ago as a birthday present.

The PBO Project Boat free

prize draw attracted almost

6,000 entries via magazine entry

forms, online at pbo.co.uk and

at the Southampton, Scotland

and London boat shows. All the

entries were added to a database

by an independent company, and

the winner was picked at random.

Anna said she was ‘absolutely

made up’ to win Hantu Biru after

entering online, and can’t wait to

learn to sail with her partner

Andrew Ellison. She said: ‘For

the last few years we’ve had a

19ft Fletcher speedboat. We

haven’t really done much sailing

before, but the week before we

found out I’d won, we’d decided

we were going to sell our Fletcher

and get a small cruising yacht: so

the fact that I should get an email

from PBO later that week to say

I’d won Hantu Biru was a

complete shock, I can’t believe

the serendipity of it.’

She added: ‘I’d been surfi ng

that morning and taken a knock

to the head. I was a bit dazed and

confused, and when I saw the

email I ran in to see Andrew and

he didn’t believe me at fi rst. It’s

only just sunk in.’

Anna said she had enjoyed

dinghy sailing with her sister

when she was younger. She said:

‘Just being around this sailing

lark appeals to Andrew and I so

much, we really want to learn.’

Since winning Hantu Biru,

Anna and Andrew have kindly

been offered a half-price RYA

Competent Crew course, by

Universal Yachting in

Southampton. They’ve also been

kitted out with polo shirts, JB

deck trainers and jacket tops

thanks to Adidas Sailing.

Anna and Andrew plan to

berth Hantu Biru at Town Quay,

Southampton. Anna said:

‘Everything is working out

amazingly. There probably isn’t

another boat in the country that’s

had as much work done on it or

so many pages written about it

as Hantu Biru. I’ll be happy if

people recognise her, I’m always

happy to talk about boats.’

‘Super-excited’

She added: ‘Hantu Biru is

palatial by comparison to our

little speedboat: she’s exactly

what we were after. Our favourite

place to go is Osborne Bay,

where we usually travel up the

river by stand-up paddleboard

to the pub. We’re super-excited

that Hantu Biru has a wind-up

keel; we’ll be able to take her

down Newtown River. I can’t

believe I’ve won a boat. I’m

so excited and so grateful to

everyone who’s worked on her. I

once won a cake at school, but

this is a bit different.’

PBO editor David Pugh said:

‘All of us at PBO are delighted

that Hantu Biru is giving a young

couple the chance to learn

about and enjoy sailing.

She’s the perfect boat for

pottering around the creeks

and anchorages of the Solent,

and Anna and Andrew’s

enthusiasm suggests that

she’ll be getting plenty of use.

‘We couldn’t have asked for

a better outcome.’

PBO Project Boat

winner Anna Millington

with her partner

Andrew Ellison

Anna, Andrew and Hantu Biru. ‘She’s exactly what we were after’