OVER THE TOP is the story of Adrian Flanagan's quest to become the first yachtsman to circumnavigate the globe via the two Polar regions, alone and without stopping. It is a daunting challenge but unquestionably the last great single-handed sailing prize to remain unclaimed. Success means that Flanagan will join the ranks of the solo circumnavigating yachtsmen and women who accomplished sailing firsts, among them America's Joshua Slocum (first ever solo), Britain's Francis Chichester (first solo with only one stop), Robin ...
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OVER THE TOP is the story of Adrian Flanagan's quest to become the first yachtsman to circumnavigate the globe via the two Polar regions, alone and without stopping. It is a daunting challenge but unquestionably the last great single-handed sailing prize to remain unclaimed. Success means that Flanagan will join the ranks of the solo circumnavigating yachtsmen and women who accomplished sailing firsts, among them America's Joshua Slocum (first ever solo), Britain's Francis Chichester (first solo with only one stop), Robin Knox-Johnston (first solo non-stop), and Chay Blyth (first solo non-stop against prevailing winds and currents) and Australia's Kay Cottee (first woman solo and non-stop). All of these great passages followed a west to east route, with the exception of Chay Blyth who went east to west. No-one has ever been round on a longitudinal axis north-south. The title derives from the proposed route into the North Sea and Barents Sea and over the top of Russia through the Northeast Passage, entering the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait. A southerly course towards New Zealand will end with a westward turn torwards the southern tip of Africa. The home stretch will be a northwest track towards the Cape Verde Islands before heading northeast to make the run for home. The planned departure is June 2005, with an estimated 30,000 miles under the keel on the south coast of England in mid 2006.
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