Left Canada on Monday
Jeanne Socrates, already the oldest female to sail solo around the world, has departed Victoria, western Canada to begin her third attempt at a non-stop, solo circumnavigation.
The 70-year-old has been thwarted in her two previous attempts to complete the voyage without stops on her Najad 380, Nereida.
She was forced to stop on Cape Town for repairs during her first attempt in 2009, which started in Lanzarote.
And a second non-stop event from Victoria in October 2010 ended with a knockdown 100 miles west of Cape Horn the following January. The damage from the knockdown forced her to stop in Ushuaia, Argentina.
However, she did manage to complete the single-handed circumnavigation this August when she sailed back into Victoria, after stopping the Falklands, Cape Town, Tasmania, Tahiti and Hawaii.
She told PBO: ‘Nereida has been well-prepared over the last two months and has had a lot of attention to detail.
‘I hope to return here by next June without too many incidents on the way – fingers crossed.’
Zac Sunderland – youngest solo circumnavigator.
Eighth circumnavigation halted for 75-year-old.