Who Wants to Round the Horn?

[David_Old_Jersey]

why are the BOC/Around Alone and other around-the-world racers not listed on this list?

Okay, I think I can answer my own question.  To 'qualify' as a solo circumnavigator, one can receive NO HELP in moving the boat forward.  So, I take it that since the race boats generally get towed to/from start and finish lines, that is why they don't qualify under these rules.

I must confess that I am kinda surprised that the list is so short..........maybe not everyone bothers to advise these people??

According to these records I could be the first Jerseyman??  :o Bl##dy heck - no pressure then ;D

[Captain Smollett]

I"ve also since learned that to 'officially' qualify as a circumnavigation, antipodal points must be crossed.  Many of the solo ocean races don't do that.

[David_Old_Jersey]

"antipodal points"  ;D

Obvious really............actually can see their point as whilst I will never decry the acheivement of someone like Ellen Macarthur (sp??!) RTW in a Multihull in record time - it had previously occurred that to me this was more "Once round the South Pole and home again" than RTW as a concept that I could relate to.

Any idea where these guys set their antipodal points?? (I could find it on their website)

[Captain Smollett]

So far as I could tell, antipodal points are ANY two diametrically opposed points.  You don't have to touch any given set to qualify.

[AdriftAtSea]

AFAIK, as long as you pass within 100NM of a set of antipodal points... I think that qualifies you for a circumnavigation.  I don't think the requirement can be too precise, given the nature of sailboats and wind...

[Captain Smollett]

Fair enough, but that still disqualifies many of those "Around the World" race courses that are essentially circumnavigations of Antarctica.  I'm not belittling that type of sailing (at all!!!!!), just saying the 'record book' would not acknowledge that as a circumnavigation of the globe....if you care about that sort of thing.  (I say, go where you want...if you touch all 360 lines of longitude, it's a circumnavigation in my book).

[AdriftAtSea]

But by that standard, you could circumnavigate by walking around either the north or south pole, and take all of a fifty foot walk to do it.  That's not the same thing as walking around the planet...

[David_Old_Jersey]

I would guess that EVERYBODY who goes to a pole does that!!

[Captain Smollett]

But by that standard, you could circumnavigate by walking around either the north or south pole, and take all of a fifty foot walk to do it.  That's not the same thing as walking around the planet...

Uh, I thought we were talking about sailing.  You cannot SAIL 50 feet around either pole.  No matter how you slice it, to touch all lines of longitude under sail, you've gotta do it "right."   There's no easy way to do that, and it would be an accomplishment.

Can we please try to refrain from purposely confusing the discussion?

[AdriftAtSea]

Capn Smollett-

I was exxagerating for effect...  I think that a true circumnavigation has to pass at least one set of antipodal points...

[Captain Smollett]

I was exxagerating for effect...  I think that a true circumnavigation has to pass at least one set of antipodal points...

Yes,  as that's exactly what I have already said several times on this board (in various threads), I agree that's the formal definition.  To be "officially" a circumnavigation, that is...to get in the 'record books,' that's the requirement.  But my point was who really cares about that - on this board anyway?  There is no special skill needed to touch antipodal points that are not also needed to sail around any path that touches all the lines of longitude.

So, sailing "around" is just as much an accomplishment, whereas the formal definition of "circumnavigation" is basically arbitrary.

[Iceman]

At this time of year we get many cruisin sailboats down here at Palmer Station
Most leave out of Ushuaia or Australia

We get down here via Punta Arenas/Straits of Magellan/Drake Passage

by way of the Laurence M. Gould..takes 96 hours from PA to Palmer avg 11knots 24 hours per day, if the ice pack is not too thick..

Come on down, but please make prior arrangements to visit

Check out Spirit of Sydney website for one idea

Iceman 8)