The former officer had a passion for sailing and had always wanted to build his own yacht and sail it around the world. He borrowed the money he needed to build his first sailing boat in Taiwan with a girlfriend.

Taiwan, which has quite a strong boat-building industry, provided the ideal location for him to build his first boat. It also gave the polyglot the opportunity to practice his Mandarin. Upon completion, he set sail for Singapore, the first leg in making his dream come true. Soon after dropping anchor in the island-state, someone made him an offer that he could not refuse.

"So he returned to Taiwan to build a second boat, repaid his loan and set off again, this time in his own boat 'free and clear'," Guy Guillemard, Group General Manager for Simpson Marine explained.

And again, the same thing happened, this time to a buyer from Hong Kong. He delivered the boat to Hong Kong and returned to Taiwan to start again.

He built his third boat and determined to sail off again with his girlfriend to the Mediterranean. But when for the third time someone offered to buy his boat in Singapore, he decided to go into business and bought a shelf company, Charterboats, in Hong Kong. Two years later, in 1984, the name was changed to Simpson Marine Limited.

The business took off and yacht sales, involving the building of new boats as well as brokerage, became -- and remains -- the main business of the company. But in his early days, Mr Simpson also did a little charter business for a while. He also signed his first dealership with Taiwanese yacht builder Ta Chiao, before going on to acquire a dealership with the leading sail boat maker in France, Beneteau, and soon after Azimut.

From its Hong Kong base, Simpson Marine gradually became the leading yacht dealer and broker in Asia. Mr Simpson also branched into buying and selling secondhand boats, including superyachts, which today account for about half of the company's total transactions of between 70 and 100 boats annually, Mr Guillemard said.

Simpson Marine has also opened offices in Singapore, East and West Malaysia, Australia and Europe, in addition to authorised sales offices in Japan, the Philippines and New Zealand.

Given Hong Kong's fortunes have always been linked to the sea, Mr Guillemard says he is surprised that not more people sail here. When the company was established around 20 years ago, almost all sailors here were expatriates, but over the years that mix changed with locals now outnumbering expatriates by about three-to-one.

In addition to the very strong tradition of marine and sailing clubs in Hong Kong -- Aberdeen Boat Club, Aberdeen Marina Club, Hebe Haven Yacht Club, Goldcoast Marina Club, as well as the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, which has three club houses -- Mr Guillemard says few places in the world are more suited to sailing than Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong is blessed by one of the finest natural coastlines anywhere -- certainly in Asia," he said. "We have dramatic scenery with the rugged cliffs, dozens of islands and beaches, friendly seas with very few nasty things in it, an all-year round sailing season, good infrastructure, service facilities, and so on. Hong Kong really has every advantage for boating."

Motor yachts are the pleasure boats of choice for those who do take the plunge into sailing, comprising about 70 percent of all boats sold by the company, with the remaining 30 percent being sailing boats. These range between 40- and 70-feet-long craft. Mr Guillemard says deciding which boat to buy is all about personal preferences and what you want to do with it, which could include water skiing, offshore fishing, entertaining friends and clients, or just getting away with the family for some quality time.

"Sailing is much more of a personal interest than most people think," he explained. "Some people think of it as their primary pastime; they may have played golf, or have owned half a back leg of a race horse, and now they want to do something else, and this is something that they very often become extremely passionate about for the rest of their lives."