Tab MVP: Charlie Makepeace

Meet Charlie Makepeace: the man who loves sports so much he took two gap years to have three ski seasons. So what if he won’t graduate until he’s 26?

An all-round natural sportsman, he dabbles in a large array of bourgeois sports, including (but not limited to) tennis, skiing and rugby. Always keen to take part, yesterday he played his first ever games of hockey and netball for an intramural side.

Charlie (in the white headband) at home on the water

Charlie’s main sport however is sailing. He is captain of the university sailing club, something he balances with being AU social sec. All this competes for his time with a degree in veterinary science.

When he has eventually finished learning the art of pet euthanasia, he hopes to have an Olympic run, targeting 2020. No doubt his mate Ben Ainslie (who he namedrops with reckless abandon) will have some sage advice for him.

Until then, he’ll have to make do with the numerous age-group national cups that adorn his trophy cabinet; some recompense for all those social events neglected in favour of hours on the water from the age of nine.

If you think this makes Charlie sound boring, wait until you hear his chosen Mastermind topic:

“I would definitely choose wind. I know more about the wind than most geographers. I’ve spent hours in lecture theatres learning about it.”

Proper laugh-a-minute stuff.

Dedication: sometimes he finds it hard to separate sailing from the rest of his life

At the moment he is busy planning Score, the big AU sports night at the O2 Academy, a job he is unsure how he ended up in:

“I was at the AGM, still sort of drunk from the night before, and my mate put me up for it. Before I knew what was going on, I had been voted in.”

Fear not, surely he will not plan our social calendar with this lackadaisical approach?

“We haven’t really got a theme yet. I’m supposed to be the ideas man, but to be honest, I don’t have any.”

When not involving himself in (arguably tedious) university-approved sports, Makepeace enjoys the sport of urban beverage racing, holding the position of Race Captain on the Bristol society.

Fast in the boat and on skis, he’s also pretty quick round an ubrub course, having the rare honour of being a past champion (though he assures The Tab that his speediness does not manifest itself in the bedroom).

Sinking it: at least he’s got something to fall back on should his boat go down in flames

Perhaps if his Olympic dream does not work out, he could always seek similar acclaim for the speed of his strawpedo.