He began sailing as a child, and became partially quadriplegic after receiving a spinal fracture from a car crash at the age of 21.
[3] At the age of 21, he was a passenger in a car crash on Mounts Bay Road, which left him with a broken neck and a fractured spine; as a result, he became a "walking quadriplegic", with reduced mobility and strength in all four limbs.
[5] In 1981 he skippered Hitchhiker II, which won that year's Admiral's Cup in Cowes and the Two Ton World Championship in Porto Cervo, Sardinia.
[3][11] In 2000, he won the North American championship for disabled persons in St. Petersburg, Florida with Jamie Dunross and Graeme Martin, in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Games.
[15] in 2020, Robins along with Jamie Dunross and Graeme Martin were inducted into the Australian Sailing Hall of Fame.