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Visit the Cookie Policy pagePoet. Sailor. Bastard. King. is a feature documentary charting the extraordinary journey of James Snow, a working class lad from Manchester with a heartbreaking story of struggle, loss and suicide.
Raised in Eccles with severe ADHD, James was a restless, misunderstood child. At age nine he found focus when a teaching assistant, Mark Isherwood, introduced him to sailing at Salford Sailing Club. He became a mentor and close friend, igniting James’ passion for the sea and adventure.
At 18, James sailed the Irish Sea twice on a boat called the Greater Manchester Challenge - a vessel which was used for nearly 30 years to give youth from underprivileged backgrounds in the North West life changing experiences at sea, before being sold privately and seemingly disappearing.
Tragically, James lost Mark to suicide a few years later, a loss that profoundly affected him and his mental health for years to come, leading him right to the brink of taking his own life on more that one occassion.
Then, on a cold morning in March 2025 whilst struggling with a period of deep depression after the breakdown of his relationship, he came across a post online that showed the Greater Manchester Challenge had been found in a marina in Kent.
Stripped of its masts, sails and rigging and left rusting in the harbour, a group of three friends had come together to buy it, restore it, retrace the epic journey it took across the Atlantic in 1992, and raise awareness for men’s mental health and suicide prevention. Two of those men were Charles and Remi, the Directors of this film.
James was the first person to message the team, and whilst they set out to make a very different documentary, it became apparent early on that the restoration of the boat, and that of James himself, was an allegory that simply couldn’t be ignored.
This is his story.
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