Socrates finishes solo circumnavigation

Jeanne Socrates (GBR) returned to Victoria BC on September 7th after successfully completing a single-handed unassisted nonstop circumnavigation. Socrates set sail from Victoria on the October 3 2018 on the Najad 380 Nereida with the intent of becoming the oldest person to sail alone around the world. She is 77 years old.

Socrates already held the claim for the oldest woman to make such a trip around the world when in 2012-13 she completed a 259-day journey that also started and finished in Victoria. Since 2016, Socrates made several repeat attempts but was forced to abandon each time due to either rough seas, boat damage or injury.

The World Sailing Speed Record Council, which was established by the world governing body for the sport in 1972 to provide consistent and impartial standards for record attempts, has a policy of not recognizing human condition categories.

Socrates used her trip to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in Britain.