Cruising is a maritime activity that involves staying aboard a watercraft for extended periods of time when the vessel is traveling on water at a steady speed. Cruising generally refers to leisurely trips on yachts and luxury cruiseships, with durations varying from day-trips to months-long round-the-world voyages.
The GP14 is a wooden or fibreglass hulled double-handed fractional Bermuda rigged sailing dinghy designed by Jack Holt in 1949.
Jolie Brise is a gaff-rigged pilot cutter built and launched by the Albert Paumelle Yard in Le Havre in 1913 to a design by Alexandre Pâris. After a short career as a pilot boat, owing to steam replacing sail, she became a fishing boat, a racing yacht and a sail training vessel.
A pocket cruiser is a sailboat designed for recreational cruising and club racing, under 30 feet (9 m) in length.
Pacific World is a Sun-class cruise ship built in 1995 and operated by Peace Boat. At the time of her construction, she was one of the largest cruise ships in the world. She was the lead ship of her class that included sister ships MS Charming and the P&O ships Pacific Explorer and Queen of the Oceans.
The sport and practice of single-handed sailing or solo sailing is sailing with only one crewmember. The term usually refers to ocean and long-distance sailing and is used in competitive sailing and among Cruisers.
Carnival Splendor is a Concordia-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. As she is the only Concordia-class ship in the Carnival fleet, she is also referred to as a Splendor-class ship. Her other sister ships are part of the Costa Crociere fleet. The ship was originally designed and ordered for Costa Cruises but she was transferred to Carnival Cruise Line during construction.
Tania Aebi is an American sailor. She completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe in a 26-foot sailboat between the ages of 18 and 21, finishing it in 1987, making her the first American woman and the youngest person to sail around the world. Her record was not recognized by Guinness, because she sailed through the Panama Canal, which required assistance. She also sailed eighty miles with a friend in the South Pacific. Despite many challenges, Aebi accomplished her goal.
The Contessa 26 is a 7.77 meter (25.6 ft) fiberglass monohull sailboat, brought about when Jeremy Rogers, with a background in traditional wooden boatbuilding along with one of his Folkboat customers, David Sadler, created a modified version of the same boat in glass reinforced plastic (GRP). Rigged as a masthead sloop, with a deep keel and a hull-mounted rudder, the Contessa 26 was launched in 1966 and early boats proved to be very successful racers, including long-distance events. Jeremy Rogers Limited went on to produce the Contessa 32.
Michael Perham is an English sailor and adventurer from Potters Bar. In 2007 at the age of 14 he became the youngest person in the world to successfully sail across the Atlantic Ocean single-handedly, beating the record set in 2003 by British sailor Seb Clover. In 2009 at the age of 17 he became the youngest person to sail around the world solo. Perham's second record surpassed that of Zac Sunderland, an older 17-year-old American, set only six weeks earlier. Following this, Perham's adventures included driving around the world and racing in many offshore races, most notably the Sydney to Hobart yacht race in 2011 where his team placed second in class.
Hilary Claire Lister was an English record-breaking quadriplegic sailor. She had the progressive condition reflex sympathetic dystrophy and controlled her ship by using sip-and-puff technology for steering and sails.
Zachary Tristan Sunderland is an American former sailor who was the first person under the age of 18 to sail solo around the world. Sunderland completed his trip after 13 months and 2 days at sea on July 16, 2009 at age 17. The record was previously held by Australian David Dicks, and was surpassed on August 27, 2009 by Michael Perham of England. Sunderland is the youngest American to complete a circumnavigation, surpassing Brian Caldwell, who finished in 1996 at age 20. However, Sunderland's record was not recognized by Guinness World Records, or by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.
William Reid Stowe is an American artist and mariner. Stowe grew up around sailboats on the East Coast, sailing on the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in his late teens and early twenties. By age 26, he had built two of his own sailboats with the help of his family and friends. Stowe subsequently sailed to the Antarctic with his schooner Anne in 1986 and completed a 194-day journey without touching land in 1999.
Abigail Jillian Sunderland is an American former sailor who, in 2010, attempted to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world.
Laura Dekker is a New Zealand-born Dutch sailor. In 2009, she announced her plan to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handed. A Dutch court stepped in, owing to the objections of the local authorities, and prevented Laura from departing while under shared custody of both her parents. In July 2010, a Dutch family court ended this custody arrangement, and the record-breaking attempt finally began on 21 August 2010. Dekker successfully completed the solo circumnavigation in a 12.4-metre (40 ft) two-masted ketch named Guppy, arriving in Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten, 518 days later at the age of 16.
Mike Plant was an American single-handed yachtsman. He competed in the BOC Challenge and the Vendée Globe, a single-handed non-stop race around the world. After five years of single-handed sailing, he logged over 100,000 miles at sea and set the record for the fastest solo circumnavigation by an American, with a time of 135 days. In 1992, Plant was preparing to compete in his second Vendée Globe and fourth single-handed circumnavigation aboard Coyote, a powerful Open 60 sloop, and was lost at sea while delivering Coyote from New York Harbor to Les Sables-d'Olonne, France for the starting line. Coyote was found 32 days later, turtled, without the 8,400 lb lead bulb that should have been attached to the keel. At the time of his death, Plant was one of only six people to have completed three solo circumnavigations, joining Bertie Reed, Guy Bernardin, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede and Philippe Jeantot. and Jon Sanders. On September 6, 2002, Plant was inducted into The Single-Handed Sailing Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.
Jeanne Socrates is a British yachtswoman. She is from Lymington. She holds the record as the oldest female to have circumnavigated the world single-handed, and she is the only woman to have circumnavigated solo nonstop from North America. She was awarded the Cruising Club of America's Blue Water Medal and the Royal Cruising Club Medal for Seamanship in 2013. In 2013, she was awarded the Ocean Cruising Club's premier award, the Barton Cup, and was elected Honorary Member of the OCC in 2020.
Lisa Blair is an Australian solo sailor who holds multiple world records. She is also an advocate for climate change, which she promotes through her Climate Action Now project. She has written a book, Facing Fear, about her first attempt at circumnavigating Antarctica solo on her yacht Climate Action Now.
