Tristan Gourlay has shattered his father’s Australian global solo circumnavigation record, completing the gruelling voyage 41 days faster than the previous mark.
The Tasmanian sailor crossed the finish line at the Iron Pot in Hobart’s River Derwent at 6:19am today after 139 days at sea.
His father Ken Gourlay set the previous Australian record of 179 days in 2007.
Gourlay sailed 21,600 nautical miles non-stop and unassisted aboard his 17-metre yacht Blue Moon II, departing in early November last year.
The achievement creates a rare father-son milestone in Australian sailing history.
“It’s sort of still sinking in really, but yeah, it feels good to have finished,” Gourlay said.
“The last few weeks were pretty tough going with no autopilot and working pretty hard, so it’ll be nice to have a rest.”
The voyage turned treacherous after Cape Horn in southern Chile when his engine failed, cutting power for battery charging.
His satellite communications then failed, leaving him without weather updates or contact with home.
“That was when it sort of sunk in that, oh no, things are going to get a lot harder,” he said.
The final leg from Cape Town proved the most challenging. Overcast skies prevented solar charging while the broken autopilot forced him to hand-steer for hours.
“It meant long hours on the helm, literally standing there until I fell asleep,” Gourlay said.
“And then I’d sort of shut the boat down, just let it amble along by itself for a couple hours while I rested.”
Despite the hardships, Gourlay found magic in the solitude, particularly wildlife encounters near Maatsuyker Island off the southern tip of Tasmania.
“I must have had a young seal that just came and just started doing stupid flips around the boat,” he said.
Gourlay credited his father’s support in reaching the start line.
“He was a big part of this one as well, he did a lot of help and I couldn’t have done it without him either,” he said.
The sailor hopes his record will endure as long as his father’s 19-year reign.
