Solo Sailing Greats into Hall of Fame

by Nancy Knudsen on 26 Jan 2006 In an announcement yesterday, four all time sailing greats will be inducted into the Single-Handed Hall of Fame in the Museum of Yachting.

They are Ellen MacArthur, Bertie Reed, Minoru Saito and Jean-Luc van den Heede.

The Inductees were nominated by a panel of internationally renowned single-handed sailing experts.

The selection criteria included: unique contribution to single-handed sailing, extraordinary achievement, pioneering spirit, outstanding performance, advancement of the sport, overcoming a remarkable challenge and providing a source of inspiration to others.

A ceremony in July 2006 in the museum’s headquarters of Newport, Rhode island will be both an induction and a celebration

For further details about the museum, click www.museumofyachting.org!HERE!same


ELLEN MACARTHUR:

On Monday, 7th February 2005, Ellen completed her 27,000 mile solo trip around the world in her Trimaran B&Q arriving back in Falmouth, setting a new world record of 71 days and 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. Already an outstanding sailor and well known in the sailing community, this achievement shot her to world-wide fame, and much recognition has come her way

This winter Ellen has joined a research trip on South Georgia into the plight of the albatross... you can read her direct reports from the Team Ellen website.


JEAN-LUC VAN DEN HEEDE:

Jean-Luc is best known for an East to West circumnavigation record, and his determination to keep going with this record attempt despite failing three times.
Since then he has made two other records, - around Britain and Cowes Dinard.
He has sailed around the world five times plus three aborted attempts, done several Transatlantic crossings, and self-admittedly has lost count of the miles covered.
He describes his worst moment on a boat ‘When after falling asleep I woke up on a beach near Melbourne in the middle of the last BOC.’

Jean-Luc is 60 now, and not slowing down, with plenty of future projects ahead.





BERTIE REED

Also just 60 years of age, Bertie Reed became an international solo sailing legend when he completed the inaugural BOC Challenge in 1982/3. at the time he was at the helm of his sloop Voortrekker which was already 15 years old, and had completed over 100,000miles. However, in spite of being seen as obsolete, Bertie crossed the line second, and was first on handicap!

Later, in the 1990/91 BOC Challenge, Bertie became one of only a few yachtsmen in the world to complete three single-handed circumnavigations. And it was in that race that he once again became world news when he saved his fellow-countryman John Martin, whose hi-tech ocean racer Allied Bank sank after hitting a submerged iceberg 'growler' deep in the world's remotest and most-forbidding ocean wilderness, on the approach to Cape Horn.
For this, Reed was given SA's highest civilian award for bravery, the Wolraad Woltemade Decoration.

With around 270,000 miles under his belt, Bertie stayed at home this year instead of competing in the 2003 Cape to Rio Race


MINORU SAITO
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Veteran Minoru Saito, at 70 the oldest of the recipients, has become perhaps the most experienced blue-water yachtsman from Japan with transoceanic voyages totalling more than 240,000 nautical miles. His upcoming challenge race, which he has dubbed 'Challenge-7' will become the seventh time he has circled the globe with only the wind and the sea for companions.

He has participated three times in the most prestigious and gruelling race in the sailing world, the single-handed, around-the-globe competition originally called the BOC Challenge, then Around Alone, and is newly renamed the 5-Oceans Race which commences in 2006.