Australia's own Solo World Record attempt on target for October launch

by Andy Lamont on 27 May 2002 Not content to quietly recuperate after shattering his leg in a kitesurfing accident Australian Andy Lamont has decided to spend his rehablitation fulfilling his childhood dream of building a boat and sailing Solo, Non-stop and Unassisted Around the World. At 32’ we believe the boat will be the smallest ever to complete the voyage...


I have been planning to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world for a few years. Originally I had planned to buy a second hand boat and refit it for the voyage but as I researched the project I soon came to realize that the cost and time involved in preparing a second hand boat for a journey would start to approach the price of a new boat.

So I decided to start with a blank page and set the criteria for my dream boat, it had to be fast, superstrong and, not only able to withstand the rigors of the Southern Ocean but also it had to be useable as a family cruiser for holidays in protected waterways with my wife and three daughters.

After more than a year of searching I happened upon the Duncanson-yachts site, there staring at me was the boat of my dreams. I already had confidence in the strength and sea-worthiness of Duncanson boats as they had proved themselves in the worst Sydney to Hobarts for more than twenty years.

As I read through the site and looked at the incredible design schematics I realized I was looking at something I had never seen before. The only thing that was worrying me was that such a comprehensive and complex kit would either be too expensive or beyond my modest boat building capabilities.

Straight away I emailed an inquiry to John, I had a million questions running through my mind, the lifting keel would be fantastic in the shallow waters of my home in the Gold Coast but would it be a good choice for Cape Horn.

A couple of days later I rang and spoke to John, I was becoming more and more certain that this was the boat I had been looking for there was only one question remaining. Was I going to able to afford a boat like this?

I was absolutely stunned when John told me that the kit would cost less than twenty thousand dollars and I could sail away for around eighty thousand, I could not believe my luck!! Here was the perfect boat and I could have it for less money than a second hand boat that probably would be no more than a poor compromise.

The next month I flew to Melbourne to see Chris Arnold’s 28 footer and his 33 under construction. I came away a true believer; the boat was going to light superstrong and fast.

With an articulating bow pole, water ballast and epoxy composite balsa cored hull it was state of the art blended with the unique laminated timber marine ply frame that locks together to form a bullet proof frame and also becomes the internal fit out. All this backed up by Johns 40 years experience as a commercial shipwright and thousands of sea miles.

The following month I shattered my fibia in a kitesurfing accident which is a another story altogether but finally after a short stay in hospital and a couple of months as a 'cripple' I was ready to start building.

The whole kit arrived in two 2400 x 1200 x 800 boxes, my eight year old daughter Samantha numbered nearly all the components from the nesting plans while I cut the 10mm nibs off with a jigsaw and we stacked the pieces according to their numbers.

It was about this time we realized the as well as being the first Queensland boat to complete this voyage we would also hold the record for the smallest boat to sail solo, nonstop and unassisted around the world

Over the next two weeks we put the whole kit together. It was just incredible to watch the whole thing come together so quickly.

One thing that gave me nightmares was the prospect of the keel breaking off, I‘d read Tony Bullimore’s book, and while his courage faith and dignity were inspirational there was no way I want find out if I could cope as well as he did.
So while the lifting keel was such a bonus in the shallow waters I really needed to be convinced that the keel would not fail under any circumstances. Needless to say I was convinced before I purchased the kit and there will more to follow on the keel and it’s construction later.

At the moment I busy chasing rigging, sails and a million other things while fitting out the interior of the boat before the hull goes on.

Be sure to tune into ABC Radio 612 AM at 2.50 p.m. this Thursday 30th May to listen to me being interviewed by Spencer Howsen about the trip and to hear me play the blues on my trusty blues harp. ABC 612 AM is the highest rating AM station in Queensland the segment will also be broadcast through all 70 of ABC’s regional AM stations.

Check back at this site next week for more updates.