The Port of London’s deputy harbour master is about to become Falmouth’s ‘harbour master designate’, shadowing the current HM Duncan Paul until his retirement early next year.
Miles Featherstone will be bringing his wide-ranging experience and qualifications over a decade on the management of 95 miles of the tidal Thames.
He will join Falmouth Harbour on June 5 and hit the ground running in his new role, with a busy season of events which will draw many thousands of visitors to the harbour.
Highlights include the Shanty Festival from June 16 – 18, the national Armed Forces Day on June 24, a rare return for the world’s Tall Ships Festival and Race from August 15-19 and the Oyster Festival from October 12 – 15.
Commercially, the harbour will welcome almost 50 cruise ship visits in 2023 and Featherstone will start the preparations for the arrival of our new £1.6 million Pilot Boat in May 2024.
Falmouth Harbour CEO, Miles Carden, said: “We are excited to be building our team during such a monumental season on the water. The safety of our harbour users, visitors and community underpins everything we do and Miles will be an instrumental part of the team in all of this.
“It is an incredibly exciting time for our harbour as we look to the horizon for new commercial opportunities.”
During his time working on the Thames, Featherstone rose from marine trainee to deputy harbour master in just ten years – with major events falling under his management through the Port of London Authority including the Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race, the Thames New Year’s Eve Fireworks, The Great River Race and the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race Start, among others.
He sees his new role in Falmouth Harbour as representing an extraordinary opportunity in the next stage of his career: “With family links to Devon I’ve always had a great fondness for the West Country and I cannot wait to build a new life and career in one of the UK’s most important and beautiful ports.
“Falmouth Harbour has a truly vibrant and forward-thinking team and it is an exciting time to be joining them in managing such an enormous year of events.”
