A father and son from Noosa are preparing for an intimidating new single-handed around-the-world race.
Mike Blenkinsop and his son John will be among a 30-strong field to take on the inaugural Mini Globe Race with 5.8m yachts next year.
They’ll compete against one another, and the elements, in an event that is expected to cover more than 40,000 kilometres and take about 400 days.
It’s an unnerving prospect, but one that both men are eagerly anticipating.
John said he was going in it to win it.
“My passion is sailing and this (event) is driving my motivation,” he said.
“This is an affordable way to enter the realm of international sailors doing amazing things in the sport.”
John, his dad and local boat builders have been constructing their vessels in a warehouse during the past few years.
“It has been a huge challenge and it was a great achievement to finally see the boats in the water at Kawana marina,” he said.
“The next step is to get the boats into a container to Portugal in August for a qualifying race across the Atlantic in December.”
The race is restricted to Class Globe 5.80 yachts and competitors must race alone.
“Everybody will be sailing exactly the same boat with the same sails with the same safety requirements,” John said.
“It means we are on a level playing field.”
John, who has never raced solo, detailed his checklist of supplies.
“The boat will be loaded with food, sails, water, clothing and safety equipment like life rafts and survival suits, plus spares, cooking needs and a navigation table for GPS, maps and radio,” he said.
“To win, I need the boat as light as possible, which is a real challenge.
“A toilet is optional, and I have decided not to have one to keep the weight down. I have a bucket instead.”
John said he and his dad were eager to beat one another.
“We are both competitive,” he said.
“I will have an edge with my age, but he has more maturity.
“He keeps reminding me about the hare and tortoise fable.”
John said he developed his enthusiasm for sailing, and his skill, from his dad.
“He definitely has shaped my sailing passion, being thrown in a sailing boat from the day I was born,” he said.
“I completed a RYA Yachtmasters course when I was 20 at the Sunshine Sailing school with John Bankart, who will be our on-shore manager for the event.”
They have plenty of sailing experience, but this test represents an unknown.
“We have entered into the Hamilton Race week three times in a previous boat, and I have received many racing concepts through courses,” John said.
“But I have never sailed across an ocean before and never sailed solo.”
The race will start at Antigua on February 25, with leg one to Panama, leg two to Fiji, leg three to Cape Town via Darwin, and leg four to Antigua.
John was braced for several challenges.
“The route is a classic, taking into account wind patterns and climatic conditions,” John said.
“As we don’t have a motor, getting around Cape Hope will be the most difficult part of the journey.
“We will need lots of endurance at many levels to complete this event. Imagine being on watch 24 hours, taking all of our water and food where we can only take a mountaineering stove to boil water.”
Meanwhile, Mike said he was inspired by historic sailors and he was set to realise an almost-lifelong dream.
“I was brought up on adventure books like Treasure Island and The Famous Five, which explains a lot,” he said.
“I would also like to learn to draw and write and I think I may have time to finally focus on this.”
There are about 18 entrants so far and he is the oldest.
“I turn 70 by the start of the race and every day now I get a little older,” he said, before detailing the challenges awaiting him.
“The main issue for me is to maintain my health and fitness for the event and to create a wellness program for this endurance.
“We cannot stand in the boat, and I have weak knees.
“When I’m spending all of my time in cramped conditions this will be my major challenge.”
He said he’s ready to be all alone in the ocean.
“It is a strange feeling when you lose sight of the land and keep going further away,” he said.
“There will be tough days in storms and equally tough days becalmed.”
Mike said he and his son were quick to enter the race after finding out about it, and although they will compete against each other, they’ve been preparing together.
“Could we have done this (preparation) by ourselves?” he said.
“Maybe, but it has been easier as a team.”
Regardless of how they fare in the race, Mike said they can be proud of their efforts.
“We may be mad, but we feel we have the courage to complete this voyage,” he said.
“If we can make it to the start line it will be an achievement, if we can finish it will be an achievement, and if we can place first and second in any order it will be an achievement.
“But just to have built these boats is already a huge achievement.”
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