After decades of dreaming about racing around the world, veteran shorthanded racer Joe Harris will set out to make his dream a reality next month when he attempts to set a new solo-circumnavigation record aboard his Class40 GryphonSolo2.
Harris—who already has 60,000 offshore race miles to his credit—will start and finish off Newport, Rhode Island, with the goal of beating the current Class40 solo circumnav record of just over 137 days 20 hours, set by Chinese sailor Guo Chuan in 2013.
“I bought GryphonSolo2 in 2011…with the express purpose of racing solo around the world, but alas there is no longer a race within which to do it,” Harris says. “So, being all dressed up with nowhere to go, I have decided to ‘just do it’ and will set out on the record attempt.”
Despite his extensive offshore resume, Harris says he expects the voyage to be the greatest physical and mental challenge he has ever faced. “I would be lying if I said that the prospect of being alone on the great oceans of the world for four months was not an intimidating thought. It is,” Harris says. “But in the end, this will provide me the greatest test of my mettle that I can imagine.”
For more on Harris’s record attempt, visit gryphonsolo2.com.
For more racing results, visit SAIL‘s racing page here.
Photos courtesy of Billy Black
October 2015
