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For Pavlin Nadvorni sailing has long become a way of life, everything he is as a person as a person he believe he owes it to sailing. As a child he discovered dinghy sailing on the Danube and when he was 17 he built a boat with some friends. After leaving his home country in 1991 he became a professional Captain in the super yachts industry. In 2003 he returned to Bulgaria where he set up his own yacht services company, he also runs a sailing school and has never lost his passion for yacht racing. Interview Where does your passion for sailing come from? If there is such a thing like reading too much, that’s most likely what eventually made sailing my way of life. Reading about Magellan, Columbus, De Gama, etc. in a small Eastern Block country quite naturally lead me to the local nautical club and got me into rowing and sailing as a kid on the Danube river, going through Optimists, Cadets, CombiBoats, Zephyrs, Finns, and windsurfing between the mid-70s and late 80s. Celestial navigation became an obsession around the age of 14 and using a pan of oil as an artificial horizon on the balcony

Jamie Young is the first entry in the Global Solo Challenge from Ireland. With an amazing 200,000 nautical miles sailed at all latitudes, Jamie has also worked professionally in the late ’70’s on the Maxi series in the USA as well as having taken part in the notorious 1976 OSTAR when an amazing 125 boats lined up for the start. Interview Where does your passion for sailing come from? Itchy feet. First experience was when I was approx. 9/10 in N Ireland on a boat belonging to a Cousin – Wallace Clark of ‘Snow Goose’ fame, though not that. While none of my parents nor siblings have the fainted interest, I was hooked after that first sail and was an utter disappointment to my family in trying to chase that goal instead of getting a ‘proper job’. And it has not just been sailing but other marine/wind activity as outlined below that includes: sea kayaking – kite surfing – small and large boat sailing voyages in demanding water in the Arctic and Antarctic. What are the lessons you learnt from sailing? You never defeat or conquer nature – you might be let go after a terrifying experience that also offers

Peter Bourke is the first American entry in the Global Solo Challenge. Crossing the Atlantic on a ship at the age of 6 left a lasting impression on him of being at sea. Peter took up sailing much later in life and at his own pace but has since competed in many editions of the Bermuda 1-2 Race and in the OSTAR 2009. Interview Where does your passion for sailing come from? I experienced my first transatlantic passage when I was six. That passage was on an immigrant ship, not a sailboat, but it left an indelible impression of being at sea. My first – and only – transpacific passage occurred when I was a 19 year old marine being ferried home from Vietnam by the US Navy. No sailing on that trip either, but on both of those passages I remember seeing sailboats as the ships neared coastal waters and thinking that perhaps one day I would learn to sail. What are the lessons you learnt from sailing? I’m sure I’ve yet to learn all the lessons from sailing, but the one that always comes to mind is the way it forces you to deal with the realities that

Luca Tosi, 35 years old from Venice, Italy, is the first skipper to enter the Global Solo Challenge in the newly created Super-Zero Group for boats rated 1.091 to 1.250. This is the fastest group, admitting a variety of performance boats including Class40s, albeit with some limitations: given the event entry restrictions, only early production vintage Class40s such as Akilarias RC1 and Pogo 40S will be allowed. Luca already has his blue eyes set on participating on a Class40 with the goal of becoming the second person to complete a circumnavigation, single-handed and unassisted, on a Class40, and the first to do so during an organised event. Although Joe Harris completed a circumnavigation on a Class40 single-handed, he was forced to make two stops for repairs. The late Guo Chuan remains the only person to have completed the voyage non-stop on a Class40, taking 137 days and 20 hours. His record is still the official reference time to beat as recorded by the WSSRC. A further two attempts have made: the first by the Italian Matteo Miceli who, despite rounding the three capes, encountered structural issues a few thousand miles from reaching his goal when he lost his keel. The

Patrick Phelipon may be the third skipper to sign up for the Global Solo Challenge but he is the first one to do so as a “Full Entry” with his own boat. Of course, he’ll have to complete his qualifier passage and reassure the organisers that both skipper and boat are fit for the voyage, but it’s fair to say that he’s nearly good to go! The boat is already undergoing a complete refit. Patrick is 67, French and lives in La Rochelle. You can visit his personal website at http://patrickphelipon.com. He h