Aleria's Adventures

I've been corresponding with Susanne Huber-Curphy who is sailing solo in the Longue Route. A few days ago. I noticed she was heading way east in the South Atlantic. So I asked her if she was heading to France with the rest of the fleet. I got an answer yesterday. She is following the track of the Longue Route as Moitessier did in the original Golden Globe Race when he continued sailing to Tahiti, even though he was winning the race, 'to save his soul'. She is heading into the Pacific. She is just short of crossing her track off South Africa today, which is her 200th day under sail. Keep in mind that she and s/v Nehaj started from Maine so she's already sailed more than a circumnavigation and she's been leading the pack the entire way. She's pulled a Moitessier!!! Or maybe a Nehaj !!! The name Nehaj comes from the Croatian term Ne hajati [nɛ xajati] which means as Susanne puts it, "I named her NEHAJ , that translates to: 'Feel safe here, Do not be a...

If you are following the Golden Globe Race, then you are aware of the carnage out there. Several yachts have retired and it was announced overnight that Norwegian skipper Are Wiig's Olleanna was rolled and dismasted overnight .

Robin Knox-Johnston on his return to Falmouth in 1969 on board Suhaili Last week, we saw The Mercy , a movie about Donald Crowhurst, the amateur sailor who lost his mind and his life in the first Golden Globe single-handed non-stop race around the world in 1968/69. The story of the nine men who took part was first told in an excellent book by Peter Nichols titled A Voyage for Madmen .

With the advent of the resurrection of the  Golden Globe Race  in 2018 comes the release of the movie called The Mercy , telling the extraordinary tale of Donald Crowhurst's bid for fame and fortune in the first Golden Globe single-handed non-stop, around-the-world race. Starring Colin Firth and Rachelle Weisz, it's a disturbing journey through the deteriorating state of mind of a man who set out to win everything and realizes he is about to lose everything instead.