After seven months and 23 days at sea, Solo circumnavigator Adrian Flanagan, 46, passed his ‘antipodal waypoint’, sailing the 38-foot Barrabas towards the Bering Strait on his ‘North-South’ solo circumnavigation record attempt. ‘If one imagines a stick passed through the very centre of the earth, the points where the stick enters the surface and where it exits are antipodal to one another,’ Adrian explained. Adrian’s antipodal position was diametrically opposed to his position on 3rd January 2006 while off the coast of Brazil at 24.11 South by 36.38 West.
‘At least one pair of antipodal points are required on a circumnavigation to define a great circle route. There were many other coordinates I could have selected but which would have meant navigating through the myriad of islands in the South Pacific Ocean.’ Adrian’s next waypoint lies 2,750 NNE of the antipodal position.
Kenyan-born Flanagan’s plan is to become the first yachtsman to sail solo round the world via the Arctic regions, with his route taking him around Cape Horn, north over the Pacific, through the Bering Strait, and west through the Arctic in Barrabas, his stainless steel Trireme 38 sloop. He has had more than his fair share of setbacks, including having to make a ‘pitstop’ in Hawaii for essential supplies and maintenance, but is still looking on schedule for his date with the melting Arctic ice caps.
http://www.alphaglobalex.com