The Hon Sir (Edward) James Holman

Sir James Holman was a practising barrister and Queen’s Counsel for 24 years, and then a High Court Judge for 27 years from 1995-2022.

He was born into a sailing family and sailed from earliest childhood in and around Poole and the Solent. Later, he spent many years racing inshore and offshore, and cruising very extensively throughout most of Northern Europe. More recently, he has also chartered frequently in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. In Aqualeo of Lymington he has cruised very thoroughly in the area Boulogne to Belle Ile; and in Rosevear, which he keeps in Bryher and Tresco, he has dodged, and sometimes hit, almost every rock in the Isles of Scilly, where he spends each August after Cowes Week with his family.

Sir James has been a member of the Council of the RYA (1980-1991), and of the committee of the RORC (1984-1987). Other clubs include the Bar Yacht Club, of which he was Rear Commodore and a long serving committee member, and the Ocean Cruising Club.

He was the Commodore of the RYS from 2021 - 2025.