Joe Harris: Only Water Ahead

Aboard his Class40 GryphonSolo2, American Joe Harris departed Newport (RI) on November 15 in a bid to break the 40 Foot Monohull Solo Non-Stop Round the World Record. That plan, however, got derailed with a detour to Cape Town to repair his energy systems and another pit stop in Uruguay due to hull damage. Joe provides an update on April 14…

So we made it past Recife last night, although it was another “GPS Event” as I am 100 miles offshore so can’t see the lights of the coast. But no matter, getting by Recife is huge for me- as there were definitely times that it seemed like a bridge too far while battling the very light headwinds that slowed me for quite a while getting up the coast of Brazil.

There is now no land in between GS2 and Newport – about 3,600 miles away – what a concept!

So our sights are set first on getting by the Fernando de Noronha Islands which we hope to ether split or go west of and then on up to the Equator.

The GS2 website “dashboard” now has new metrics including the “Distance to Finish” and “Estimated Time to Finish”, so for those of you who haven’t entered the “GS2 Time to Finish Contest” – time to get your entry in! The deadline will be this Saturday, April 16th at 12pm noon Eastern. We are up to about 150 entries! Full details here: http://www.gryphonsolo2.com/page/9990

Background: As a result of Joe’s 11-day detour to Cape Town (Dec 28-Jan 8), and his 10-day pit stop in Uruguay (Mar 22-31), Joe is no longer able to officially break the existing non-stop record of 137 days, 20 hours, 01 minute, 57 seconds – set by Chinese sailor Guo Chuan in 2013. However, he remains committed to completing the journey. Website: www.gryphonsolo2.com