Sara Hopkinson is an experienced sailor, a Yachtmaster Instructor and Examiner and lives at Pin Mill in Suffolk where she runs an RYA Training Centre which specialises in navigation, radio, radar and first aid courses. She has also been a Coastguard Rescue Officer for many years and is now the Deputy Station Officer of HM Coastguard, Holbrook. She is also the author of Fernhurst Books' VHF Afloat and Navigation: A Newcomer's Guide.