Polish sailor sets record sailing smallest sailboat nonstop around the world
June 2, 2018
PLYMOUTH, England (LOG NEWS SERVICE) — A Polish sailor has set a new record for the smallest sailboat to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world.
Szymon Kuczynski who left Plymouth on Aug. 19, 2017 aboard his 20-foot, 10-inch sailboat Atlantic Puffin sailed back into Plymouth Harbor on May 17 – some 270 days later – to successfully complete a nearly 30,000-mile solo unaided circumnavigation.
Kuczynski, who self-funded his journey, followed a classic sea route after departing Plymouth. Sailing southward he rounded the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of South Africa, then, sailing eastward, passing along the coast of southern Australia he continued eastward across the Pacific to round Cape Horn at the tip of South America before heading northward across the Atlantic back to Plymouth.
Atlantic Puffin, a Maxus 22, which was manufactured in the Northman boatyard in Poland and is normally used for in-land sailing and close-shore waters, was redesigned especially for heavy weather ocean sailing.
The hull and rigging were strengthened and the interior of the yacht limited to the essential appliances. The cabin was redesigned to be watertight and includes a watertight door between the cockpit and cabin.
No novice to ocean sailing, Kuczynski sailed his self-built 16-foot sailboat Lillia My across Atlantic and back home to Europe race in 2013.
And in 2016 he completed a two-year around the world journey in Atlantic Puffin, making stops at some ports along the way.
A smaller yacht than Atlantic Puffin has successfully completed a circumnavigation. In 1987 Australian Serge Testa sailed solo around the world from Brisbane, Australia in Acrohc Australis, a self-designed 11-foot, 10-inch aluminum sloop. Testa, however, stopped along the way at several ports during his voyage and also went through the Panama Canal.
Presently The World Sailing Speed Record Council recognizes the record set in a specially adapted Mini 6.5 by Alessandro Di Benedetto, who in 2010 completed a nonstop around the world solo and unassisted voyage in a 21-foot, 3.9-inch sailboat in 268 days.
