Today
The man from the book of records
This year, the Australian John Sanders turns 80 years old. He celebrates his anniversary in the ocean. Sanders gathered on his 11th round-the-world trip.
You were not mistaken, and your eyes did not let you down: for the Australian, this really will be the eleventh round-the-world trip! Moreover, a number of his achievements are included in the Guinness Book of Records. So, in 1986 – 1988, he walked around the "ball" three times – and without stopping, solo, breaking 71,000 nautical miles in 678 days. How do you like this achievement?
And at the same time, far from everything was heard about Sanders – what to do, Australia on the other side of the world, they rarely write about him even at home (only when he is once again going on a long journey and after the finish), and besides the record holder can not stand give an interview.
He is generally much more comfortable on a yacht than at home. Two years ago, completing his tenth circumnavigation, Sanders admitted:
“I do not know what to do on land. I am already drawn back, and I can’t do anything with myself, I always have to go to the sea. I do not always understand it myself, but I often remember the words of my mother. When I was teased by other boys in my childhood, because I preferred to go to the yacht club than to play football, she told me: “Why do you want to be like everyone else if you can be someone special?”
And he continued:
“So I feel most comfortable in the sea. Nowhere else can I find myself, nowhere else am I alone with myself and with the world. In this world there are no better places than the sea! ”
Generally speaking, Sanders rarely, but, as they say, aptly. “The area of my cabin on a yacht is much smaller than the size of a prison cell,” he said once. – But I am amazingly comfortable. Do you know why? Because I am a free man. Freer than all! "
He crossed the Pacific Ocean 12 times, Indian – 14 times, Atlantic – 12. Cape Horn skirted five times, Cape of Good Hope – 11 times. Seven times participated in the Sydney-Hobart race.
He generally likes to race. In 1979 he signed up to participate in an offshore regatta, held in Rio de Janeiro. And after the race I wondered: is it worth returning home to Australia in the same way – through Cape Town? And headed north to pass the Panama Canal.
So – unexpectedly for himself – Sanders made his first Around the World. Liked. At the same time, the second one, which began in 1981, was non-stop, solo (like all subsequent ones), and, most importantly, double. That is, he made two “turns” in a row.
It should be noted: only five of his round the world were non-stop. In this century, he prefers to make a stop or two, if the damage is serious. Not 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 is to be alone again with the oceans on board the Perie Banou II. The rest is irrelevant.
We at Yacht Russia once wrote about this incredible Australian. Including cited such a story.
March 13, 1988, after circling the planet three times and spending 678 days at sea, he returned to Fremantle. The friends who met Sanders were very afraid that such a long loneliness would have a bad effect on his mind, so they made the decision, going to the board of his yacht, not to talk to him first to see if he would recognize them. The sailor was the first to break the grimly silent solemnity of the moment of the meeting, in his usual style shouting to one of his friends: “Hey, dummy, did you put on that stupid hat again ?!”
83 today # 9177
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