Yesterday I went down to Fremantle harbor to watch the start of the second leg of the 2007 Velux 5 Oceans Solo Challenge. This is a round-the-world race starting and ending in Spain featuring solo sailors. There is only two stops on the race, Fremantle Australia and Norfolk, Virgina. The sailed non-stop from Spain to Australia. And yesterday they left for a non-stop sail across the Pacific, around Cape Horn, and up the Atlantic Ocean to Virgina.
The boats were amazing. They are very large for a single person boat. The living space is actually small, with most of the space being used to hold sails. We were not allowed on board the boats. But each racer was introduced, gave a little speech, and then left the dock for the starting line offshore.
One of the racers is from Japan. He was pretty cool. His English is poor, and he needed a translator. But he had the largest fan base there. There was a large number of supporters waving Japanese flags as he left. They said that he has become a celebrity and a bit of a hero in Japan for doing this race. Here is his profile on the race site.
The best way to see the boats and understand what these guys are doing is to go their website here. Looks like a lot of fun! Wish I was going!
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