WHAT IS CIRCUMNAVIGATION?

The word circumnavigate is based in geometry and means to travel around something. Guidelines issued by Guinness World Records in December 2006 state that a human powered circumnavigation must travel a minimum of 23,000 nautical miles (about 38,000 kilometers) cross the equator, cross all lines of longitude and must depart/arrive from the same port. Read more... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumnavigation

CURRENT SOLO CIRCUMNAVIGATION ATTEMPTS

Solo or 'Single-handed' means there is only one person on board. If a single handed skipper accepts any kind of outside assistance while at sea then the voyage is no longer ‘single-handed’.

Abby Sunderland (Born October 19, 1993) Abby Sunderland turned sixteen in October 2009. Inside of Abby, a passion burns. Since becoming a teenager, she has had her sights set on making history as the youngest person, male or female, to circumnavigate the world. Not only does she plan to accomplish this feat alone and unassisted, she plans to do it without once taking refuge on land. Aboard an Open 40 racing sailboat, Abby will embark on her voyage in January 2010 http://www.abbysunderland.com

Jessica Watson (Born May 13, 1993) Watson set out on October 18, 2009 from Sydney, Australia to become the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the globe. Read more... http://www.jessicawatson.com.au

Laura Dekker (13) is planning to attempt to sail around the world solo between 2009 and 2011. Her trip has been delayed due to a court order. Read more... http://www.lauradekker.nl

Alessandro Di Benedetto will attempt to sail around the world solo, non-stop, and unassisted by sailing in boat only 6.5 meters long. Alessandro left from France in October of 2009. Read more... http://www.alessandrodibenedetto.net/web/indexen.html

RECENTLY COMPLETED CIRCUMNAVIGATIONS

Michael Perham - Born 16th March 1992 (Completed Trip: August 27, 2009) At the age of fourteen Mike became the youngest person to ever sail across the Atlantic single-handed. He still holds that world record today. At the age of 17, Mike became the youngest person to sail single-handed around the world. Read more... http://www.challengemike.com/welcome.htm

Zac Sunderland (Born November 29, 1991) was, for some six weeks, the youngest person to sail solo around the world. Zac completed his trip, after 13 months and 2 days at sea, on July 16, 2009 at age 17, when he sailed back in to his port of origin, Marina Del Rey, CA. Read more...http://www.zacsunderland.com

Jesse Martin - Born 26 August 1981 (Completed Trip: is an Australian sailor who in 1999 became the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, non-stop, and unassisted. His journey in the 34-foot (10 m) yacht Lionheart-Mistral took approximately 11 months. He chronicled his adventures in the book Lionheart: A Journey of the Human Spirit, and his story was made into a TV movie, Lionheart: The Jesse Martin Story. Read more... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Martin

David Dicks is an Australian yachtsman, made famous for becoming the youngest person to sail non-stop and solo around the world. In February 1996, at the age of 17, he set out from Fremantle, Australia. During his 9 month circumnavigation, he faced many challenges such as numerous knockdowns, bad weather, equipment failure, and food poisoning. Because of accepting a bolt to fix his rig near the Falkland Islands, his circumnavigation was not considered unassisted. Read more... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dicks

CIRCUMNAVIGATION RECORD HOLDERS

Fastest Solo Circumnavigation (57 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes)
Francis Joyon /France / 2007-08 / 110-ft Irons-Cabaret-designed trimaran / IDEC 2

First Circumnavigation
Ferdinand Magellan /Portugal / 1519-1521 / 90-ft carrack / Victoria

First Solo Circumnavigation
Slocum, Joshua / Nova Scotia / 1895-98 / 37-ft sloop / Spray

First Nonstop Solo Unassisted Circumnavigation
Bernard Moitessier / 1968-1969 / 39-ft ketch / Joshua

First Nonstop Solo Unassisted Circumnavigation by a Woman
Kay Cottee / Cavalier 37 Sloop / Blackmores First Lady In June 1988, Kay Cottee became the first woman to sail solo, unassisted and nonstop around the world. In the course of her voyage she set seven world records.

First Nonstop Solo Circumnavigation, Port-to-Port
Robin Knox-Johnston / 1968-1969 / 32-ft ketch / Suhaili (via the three great capes)

Youngest Unassisted Nonstop Circumnavigator
Jesse Martin (18 yrs and 66 days) / Australia / 1998-99 / 34-ft sloop / Lionheart

Youngest Circumnavigator
Mike Perham (age 17 yrs and 164 days) / Great Britain / 2008-2009 / Open 50 / Totallymoney.com

Oldest Nonstop Circumnavigator
Minoru Saito (age 71) / Japan / 2004-05 / Adams 50 / Challenge 7 (ex-Shuten-Dohji)

Oldest Circumnavigator (with stops)
Harry Heckel (age 89) / Jacksonville / 1995-2005 / Dreadnought 32 / Idle Queen

First Woman Circumnavigator (with stops)
Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz / Canary Islands / 1976-1978 / Conrad 32 / Mazurek

CIRCUMNAVIGATORS THROUGHOUT HISTORY

Joshua Slocum (February 20, 1844 – November 14, 1909) was a Canadian-American seaman and adventurer, a noted writer, and the first man to sail single-handedly around the world. In 1900 he told the story of this in Sailing Alone Around the World. He disappeared in November 1909 while aboard his boat, the Spray. Read more... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Slocum

Captain James Cook (November 7, 1728 – February 14, 1779) was an English explorer, navigator, and cartographer. Ultimately Cook rose to the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy. Cook was the first to map Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean during which he achieved the first European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands as well as the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand. Read more... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cook

The First Circumnavigation of the Globe passing through antipodal points was completed in 1522 by 18 members of Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition to find a route to the Spice Islands by sailing west. Magellan himself was killed en route on the island of Mactan in present day Philippines. Francis Drake, Thomas Cavendish and Simon de Cordes, to name but a few, soon followed in the same manner. Read more... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan