11th round of the world of John Sanders

November 6, 20193min read

Yesterday

11th round of the world of John Sanders
Last Sunday, 80-year-old Australian John Sanders went from Fremantle on a trip around the world. This is a sensation in itself, given its age. But in fact, the main sensation is that for Sanders this is the 11th round the world!

You were not mistaken: this is truly his ELEVEN circumnavigation of the world! Moreover, a number of Sanders achievements are included in the Guinness Book of Records. So, in 1986 – 1988, he walked around the “ball” three times — moreover, solo and without stopping, breaking 71,000 nautical miles in 678 days. How do you like this achievement?

We at Yacht Russia wrote about Sanders, of course, more than once. But recently, we have significantly increased readers. So it’s not a sin to repeat something.

With all the achievements of Sanders, not everyone heard about him – what can you do, Australia is on the other side of the world, they rarely write about him even at home, and besides, the record holder hates giving interviews.

He generally much more comfortable on a yacht than at home. Having completed his tenth voyage around the world, Sanders admitted:

“I don’t know what to do on land. I am already drawn back, and I can not help myself, I always need to go to sea. I do not always understand this myself, but often remember the words of my mother. When other boys teased me as a child, because I preferred going to the yacht club rather than playing football, she told me: “Why do you want to be like everyone else, if you can be someone special?”

And continued:

“So I feel most comfortable at sea. Nowhere else can I find myself, nowhere else I am alone alone with myself and with the world. There are no better places in this world than the sea! ”

In general, Sanders rarely speaks out, but, as they say, aptly. “The area of my cabin on the yacht is much smaller than the size of the prison cell,” he once said. “But I'm surprisingly comfortable.” Do you know why? Because I am a free man. Free of all! ”

He crossed the Pacific Ocean 12 times, Indian – 14 times, Atlantic – 12. Cape Horn went around five times, Cape of Good Hope – 11 times. Seven times participated in the Sydney-Hobart race.

He generally loves racing. In 1979, he signed up for an offshore regatta in Rio de Janeiro. And after the race I thought: is it worth returning home to Australia in the same way – through Cape Town? And headed north to go through the Panama Canal.

So – unexpectedly for himself – Sanders made his first circumnavigation. Liked. At the same time, the second, which began in 1981, was non-stop, solo (like all subsequent ones), and, most importantly, double. That is, he made two straight turns in a row.

It should be noted: only five of his circumnavigations were non-stop. In this century, he prefers to make a stop or two, if the breakdown is serious. Far from always, Sanders chooses classic routes. So this time, having left his native Fremantle, he will first go to Mauritius, then to the Cape of Good Hope, after which …

What will happen next, he has not yet decided. The main thing for Sanders was again to be face to face with the oceans aboard the Perie Banou II. The rest is much less inconsequential.

We in Yacht Russia in one of the notes about this incredible Australian brought such a story.

On March 13, 1988, having circled the planet three times and spent 678 days at sea, Sanders returned to Fremantle. Friends feared that such a long loneliness would badly affect his mind, so they decided, going to the side of his yacht, not to speak with him first to understand if he would recognize them. The sailor was the first to violate the gloomy-silent solemnity of the moment of the meeting, shouting to one of his friends in his usual style: “Hey, blockhead, have you put on this stupid hat again ?!”

500 Yesterday # 9653

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