Jazz Turner is 26 and dying. But on June 2, she set off in her boat FEAR to sail round Britain single-handedly. Corinne Sweet tells the story
Journey of a lifetime
Jazz Turner is 26 and dying. But on June 2, she set off in her boat FEAR to sail round Britain single-handedly. Corinne Sweet tells the story
Jazz suffers from Ehlers-Danloss syndrome, which is a hypermobility condition with lots of nasty side effects. In December 2024 Jazz took the decision to stop invasive treatments and to face her end. She was given six months to live, possibly two years.
Jazz can’ t bear weight on her legs, is in a wheelchair, and is often fed through an tube into her heart as she has gastrointestinal failure. However, Jazz is a force to be reckoned with – and she launched Project Fear in April at Brighton Marina to raise money for other disabled people to learn to sail.
She is used to overcoming obstacles. Indeed, obstacles are her path. Jazz was born to a white English mother and a South- African father, and experienced serious levels of abuse in her childhood from her mother. Jazz went to Sussex private schools, but didn’ t fit in and was living rough in her early teens.
However, a random experience of having a friend’ s sailing lesson at 13 changed her life. She fell in love with the sea, with sailing. At this point her physical issues had neither been noticed or treated. She was a ballet dancer and hypermobile. However, her symptoms increased once she was living rough – her ankle ligaments having snapped.
Jazz started building her own boat at 14 by skulking around Seaford and Newhaven sailing club and begging bits of boat to build with. She pestered sailors to take her out and soon was sailing like a demon herself.“ Once on the water I feel free and powerful”, Jazz explains,“ I love it. The tougher the wind and waves the happier I am”.
Jazz made herself into a powerful athlete, sailing Fireballs and winning races. She tried to be an Olympic Para-athlete
( she is easily at that level) but was not accepted as her condition is not recognised by the powers that be.
Disappointed, but not dissuaded, Jazz continued to race and teach herself everything about sailing. Homeless at 18, two amazing sailors at Seaford took her under their wing to join their family. Chris, an engineer, and Carolyn, a GP, simply took Jazz home and she has never left.
Under their firm but loving guidance, Jazz has managed to do a Mechanical Engineering Degree at Sussex University. She has also done a RYA training course recently and she teaches sailing herself at Piddinghoe.
Last year Jazz did the South Downs way in her wheelchair and raised £ 12,000 for charity. She is now wanting to raise 30k for it doing her round Britain challenge in her boat FEAR – which stands for Face Everything and Rise Again.