And now, the mother-of-two is so smitten by sailing she's buying a boat of her own.

And if that's not enough, Lesley's passion has led to a full time career linked to tall ships.



MENTION the Tall Ships' Races and no one is more excited than Lesley Strickland.

"It's in my blood now," says 40-year-old Lesley who first boarded a tall ship four years ago and now works as the project officer for the races which come to Hartlepool in 2010.

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Lesley, who lives with her family in the South Fens area of Hartlepool, was a stranger to sailing up to 2004.

But that first voyage of a lifetime has changed her life forever.
She is now a qualified sailor and is helping to plan Hartlepool's involvement as a host port in the Tall Ships' Races 2010.

She admits tall ships have taken over her life, so much so that even her family are getting in on the act.

Lesley and her son Adam, 15, a pupil at English Martyrs School, embarked on a skipper course to give them the theoretical knowledge needed to sail.

Lesley said: "Adam really enjoys it, he loves being out on the boat.
"He became interested in it when I did and he is old enough to go out on the tall ships now.

"It is really exciting and we get a real buzz from it.

"We try to get out a bit as a family, but the motor boat is expensive to run so when we get a sail boat hopefully we will be able to get out more. "

Lesley's younger son Ben, 12, and her husband Martin, 45, also share the interest.

But Martin has banned Lesley from talking about tall ships while she is at home. She said: "The Tall Ships' Races have become part of my life. I live it, breath it and work it. I love everything about it.

"But my husband says I have to stop talking about it every evening!"

Lesley said: "It is something that I never imagined I would get involved in but as soon as I was introduced to the tall ships at a Maritime Experience event everything changed."

At the time Lesley, who was working as an events officer for Hartlepool Borough Council, was helping at the event.

She said: "The tall ships were taking part in a mock battle sequence in Hartlepool and it was at that time that the town was given the opportunity to be a host port for a Tall Ships' Race the following year."

In 2005, 37 ships stopped in Hartlepool after they had finished a leg in Newcastle.

Afterwards, crews said what an enjoyable time they had in the town.
It persuaded town bigwigs to put in a bid to become a host port for the 2010 Tall Ships' Races.

That bid was successful and it wasn't long before Lesley was on board the team organising the event.

She said: "I began to get heavily involved with the ships and it just went from there really.

"It all came about through my job with the council.

"I just became more and more interested and I was given the position as Tall Ships' project officer in 2006."

Since then Lesley has thrown herself into the role and has even joined crews to take part in races in other parts of the world.

She said: "I had never been out on a ship before and the first time I did was in July 2006 when I joined the crew from Brighton to St. Malo in France for four days. It was during a delivery leg so it was nice and calm. A really good first experience of sailing."

However, Lesley's second experience of sailing didn't go as smoothly.
In August 2007 Lesley joined the crew of the Black Diamond to sail from Stockholm to Szczecin, in Poland, on a leg of a race.

She said: "It was a rough ride. When you first start sailing it takes you a while to find your sea legs and I really felt it on that trip.
"I lost a lot of weight, I couldn't eat for the six days I was on the ship, I could only drink tea."

But the experience did not put Lesley off and now her and her family are keen to get more involved.

Two years ago they bought a motor boat which Lesley has now put up for sale in order to buy her first sail boat, after officially qualifying as a sailor in February last year.

As part of her job Lesley also now visits other host ports across the word.

She said: "You get to know everyone involved in the races. Everyone is so friendly and we really are like one big family.

"I'm now looking forward to getting a sail boat and getting out there and I know that after the Tall Ships' Races 2010 I will continue to be just as involved with the ships as I am now.