Pelorus co-founders, ex-British Army captains, plan $90,000 adventures for the super-rich

Geordie Mackay-Lewis (left) and Jimmy Carroll (right),
the founders of Pelorus.
Pelorus

• Ex-British Army Captains Geordie Mackay-Lewis and Jimmy
  Carroll are the cofounders of Pelorus, a company which plans
  travel experiences for the super-rich.
• The company specialises in three categories: Private
  Adventures, Yacht Expeditions, and Special Projects.
• The trips are unique and range from a £40,000 ($52,000)
  Angola tribe experience to an espionage mission with
  counter-terrorism experts.
• Pelorus recently launched a 10-day “Top Gear” style
  experience in Patagonia, complete with envelopes containing
  challenges, which costs £50,000 ($65,000).

During their time as Captains in the British Army, Geordie
Mackay-Lewis and Jimmy Carroll led desert patrols and helicopter
operations for soldiers.

Now, they plan rainforest camp parties, desert treasure hunts,
and Top Gear-inspired expeditions for the super-rich.

The pair, both of whom were in reconnaissance regiments, met
while on an operation in Afghanistan.

After serving, they went their separate ways — Mackay-Lewis
becoming COO for an electronics company across Europe before
moving to a post as Managing Director of high-end travel company
Cookson Adventures.

Meanwhile, Carroll was appointed expedition manager for a medical
research expedition conducted on Mount Everest, called XTreme
Everest 2. He then moved on to become global tour manager for
football club Manchester United.

“I had a slightly more eclectic career,” he told Business
Insider, adding that his time with Man U involved “doing
commercial deals and delivery around the world.”

“Prior to leaving I delivered the tour in the US,” he said. “It
was a different side of things working with a global brand and
travel at a high level — it was very demanding.”

At the same time, Mackay-Lewis was realising that there were
plenty of opportunities in the world of high net worth travel.

“I was looking at what other companies were doing, and it was a
no brainer that there was so much not being created,” he said.

When the pair met again, Mackay-Lewis was heading up marketing
and communications for superyacht, private jet, and architecture
design studio Winch Design in London.

“Having not seen each other since Army days, we bumped into each
other in Amsterdam at a global superyacht forum,” Carroll said.
“Our imaginations [started] kicking off.”

Together, they had experience both designing and leading
superyacht expeditions around the world.

However, according to Mackay-Lewis, they thought: “Nobody is even
taking them to where they should go.” He said a lot of the world
“wasn’t being looked at” — so they wanted to create an
organisation where they became “experts in the rest of the world
outside the Caribbean/Mediterranean.”

Designing travel experiences for the super-rich

Named after a tool used to maintain the bearing of a sea vessel,
they launched Pelorus in November 2017. The company plans
travel experiences — such as skiing, fishing, hiking, surfing, or
even tribal immersion — for individuals, families, or corporate
groups using a global network of local experts, including
scientists, archaeologists, marine biologists, and
conservationists.

Both men are mountain leaders and advanced divers themselves, as
well as fellows of the Royal Geographic Society, while
Mackay-Lewis is also a paragliding pilot and skydiver.

Pelorus

The company specialises in three categories: Private Adventures,
Yacht Expeditions, and Special Projects.

Private Adventures are experience-led trips and involve “looking
at the world in a different way,” according to Mackay-Lewis, who
added that Pelorus works with people from outside the travel
industry — such as government agencies, conversation groups, and
even BBC Natural History — to “enable us to be creative and make
sure everything we offer is different from the travel sector.”

The adventures can involve skiing, fishing, diving, safari,
surfing, mountains, islands, and the desert, just to name a few.

Pelorus

One is a £40,000 ($52,000) Angola tribe experience, where you
“come face to face with a handful of different tribes who have
different heritage and traditions,” according to Mackay-Lewis.

Taking a helicopter, travellers can visit a tribe who were
formerly cannibals until the 80s.

“It’s not for everyone, but it’s still incredibly exciting,” he
said.

Meanwhile, Yacht Expeditions focus on going further afield and
“developing new destinations for yachts around the world.”

“Working with owners, captains, brokers, shipyards, ice pilots,
marine biologists, and guides, PELORUS is able to discover
uninhabited islands, hidden beaches, rarely-contacted tribes and
incredible diving spots,” according to a company statement.

Michael Lewis

This can mean a three-month cruising plan around South America,
including trips to the Galapagos Islands to work with
conservation groups or a visit to the jungle in Papa New Guinea,
where “few people can operate safely and securely,” for a cost of
around £70,000 ($91,000) — although the company doesn’t charter
the yacht themselves.

From counter-terrorism missions to ‘Top Gear’ challenges

Finally, Special Projects are “production and events experiences”
for clients where nothing is off-limits, according to
Mackay-Lewis, and can involve anything from conservation projects
to military experiences or espionage missions with
counter-terrorism experts.

Pelorus

“We’re doing a Top Gear experience for private clients in
Patagionia for 10 days,” he said, adding that it targets “Land
Rover enthusiasts” and costs around £50,000 ($65,000).

“Someone is giving them a brown envelope with a challenge each
day,” he said. At one point, a helicopter takes them to a glacier
where they have lunch, spend the night, then paraglide to their
vehicles that have been moved to another area.

Pelorus

Other experiences have involved a group being picked up in Israel
and having a “massive dessert party” in Jordan over a long
weekend, or a treasure hunt across the Namibian desert involving
camels, quad bikes, planes, and “a host of support staff to make
it a reality.”

“The planning was hellish, but the clients had an incredible
time,” according to Mackay-Lewis.

Carroll added that they’re also involved with long-term planning
— such as planning an experience to take a client’s
seven-year-old son through to his 18th birthday with a different
experience every year, “built around what he’s learning in
school.”

So what does an experience like this cost?

According to the company, a trip that lasts between six and 12
days can range between £25,000 ($33,000) and £70,000 ($91,000).

“We are looking predominantly at the high net worth and ultra
high net worth market,” Carroll said. “What we’ve seen
traditionally is the older demographic of clients and baby
boomers who have wealth behind them, either inherited or from a
productive career, have the most time available for travel.

“We’re rapidly seeing that moving down. [They are] sharing wealth
amongst the family and want to do family trips and take younger
generations away.”

These family trips, though, involve seeing polar bears and the
Northern Lights in Svalbard, off-roading in Patagonia,
heli-skiing in Alaska, or cruising around the Philippines.

Pelorus

Carroll added that while the UK has been at the forefront of this
shift, they’re also seeing clients from “across Europe, America,
the Far East and Russia,” as well as China.

Buying experiences over assets

He added that there’s now a “different style of traveller” who
wants to “get away from buying tangible assets and wants to buy
experiences.”

According to Carroll, Pelorus also gives something back, both
through support work with the likes of the Blue Marine Foundation
and World Land Trust, and by giving a percentage of
their profits to each
foundation.

“People want to go out and not just see, but have a hands-on
experience as well,” he said. “Charities facilitate that.”

Pelorus

According to the company, no two Pelorus trips are never the same
— and the duo pride themselves on “challenging the traditional
travel and yachting sectors and giving deeper access to many of
the world’s hidden secrets.”

Carroll said: “We had a clear vision when we set out — taking
people around the world to see the most incredible things.”