Golden Globe Race - Andre Lodolo - At the heart of time
by Agence TB Press 26 Mar 03:03 PDT
Golden Globe Race - Andre Lodolo © Pierre Bouras
The entrepreneur who became a sailor — a journey of meditation — the sea as a way to stop time.
A remarkable traveller, Italian sailor Andrea Lodolo moves through life with a sense of constant wonder. As he prepares — with almost monastic discipline — to compete in next year's Golden Globe Race, the legendary solo, non-stop circumnavigation without modern electronic navigation, he is in fact opening a new chapter in a rich and contrasting life. A life shaped by a relentless search for harmony through chosen solitude.
From early childhood, solitude has been Andrea's refuge — not as a withdrawal from the world, but as a deeper form of connection. For him, it is a way to listen, to perceive, even to suspend time itself. At sea, he finds an infinite and austere space where only the present moment and the demands of his boat truly matter. Sailing becomes a journey through time, a search for balance between creation, improvisation and self-determination.
Once a successful entrepreneur, he now experiences navigation as a form of meditation. At sea, time and space dissolve into one another. Out of the ocean's permanent instability emerge imagination and creativity — the essential engines of his existence.
A distinguished professional career
Before becoming a long-distance sailor, Andrea Lodolo built an impressive professional path in the digital maritime sector. A graduate of the London School of Economics, he served as CEO of Seably, a SaaS platform designed to improve training and performance for maritime crews while accelerating the digital transformation of the shipping industry.
Under his leadership, the company developed innovative partnerships, led strategic acquisitions and launched sector-wide initiatives — including well-being programmes for seafarers. Seably trained tens of thousands of users and established major industrial collaborations, notably with The Ocean Race, the iconic round-the-world sailing competition.
In 2023, at the age of 52, Andrea made a deliberate and radical choice: he stepped away from executive life to devote himself entirely to sailing and to his participation in the Golden Globe Race 2026, which will start on 6 September from Les Sables-d'Olonne. A race of extremes, sailed alone, non-stop and without electronic navigation.
True to his character, Andrea committed fully. He has already completed a 4,736-mile solo Atlantic qualification aboard Bibi, his Rustler 36, becoming one of the first Italians to secure a place in this particularly demanding competition.
Sailing as a path to self-discovery
In many ways, Andrea is beginning a new life — one that fulfils a lifelong inner quest: the pursuit of harmony through solitude. The sea, and the Golden Globe Race itself, offer him the ideal framework to explore his deepest aspirations.
From a young age, he understood his difference and gave it a name: Asperger's autism. He describes it not as a limitation but as a gift.
"I simply do some things faster than others — and some more slowly."
Driven by a profound curiosity, Andrea seeks above all to discover his own uniqueness.
"The Golden Globe Race is a marketplace for learning," he says with a smile.
"Alone at sea, a rhythm settles in. Every moment is felt intensely. Time is no longer the time of those on land. You sense a presence. Sailing solo is an endless meditation — a way to rediscover yourself, free from worries and from algorithms that dictate our lives. This race is a detox, a chance to stop living under influence and to reconnect with who you truly are."
"I was a freshwater sailor..."
As a child, Andrea quickly realised that sailing alone on a small dinghy on Lake Como answered his unspoken need for solitude. Yet it was only in 2022 that he decided to fully embrace offshore sailing.
"I bought Bibi, a Rustler 36 — a strong and reliable yacht, perfectly suited to the extreme conditions of the race, with a long keel, large load capacity and stability in the Southern Ocean. I immediately set off on six months of solo voyages to the Azores, the Canary Islands and the Irish Sea. That's when I realised I was still a freshwater sailor."
He then chose to settle in Brittany, where he found both guidance and a warm welcome.
"Here, I am learning everything — sailmaking, seamanship... I am learning what it truly means to become a sailor."