Cruising guru Jimmy Cornell’s new yacht will be a catamaran
Cruising author and rally founder Jimmy Cornell (pictured right) is planning his fourth circumnavigation – and will be swapping from a monohull to a catamaran for the voyage.
He aims to sail 30,000 miles, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano. He will leave from Seville in October 2020 and sail via Cape Horn, Timor, and the Cape of Good Hope.
Cornell, who will be 80 next year, has been cruising since his first voyage around the world with his family in 1975. He went on to found the ARC Transatlantic Rally and the first ever round the world cruising rally in 1991. Over the decades he has had a number of yachts named Aventura, his most recent being an aluminium Garcia Exploration 45 in which he transited the
North West Passage.
This time he will be in a version of the Outremer
4X, modified so that he can complete a ‘no-carbon’ voyage and tagged as a prototype 4E model. This new yacht will be named Elcano.
“The main reason for choosing a catamaran is the fact that I want to be able to do the entire voyage under sail (and not in the Southern Ocean, where wind is guaranteed). In this case the regeneration of energy is extremely important. “While sailing, the turning propellers on the saildrives are recharging the batteries.
I will also have a large amount of solar panels, which is another advantage for doing it on a catamaran, thanks to the larger available surface. I will not have a backup diesel generator!” he says.
He adds: “The voyage will follow the historic route by stopping only at the places visited by the original expedition. Following a stop in Tenerife, his route will continue to Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and Puerto Julian before transiting the Magellan Strait. After a symbolic stop at Punta Arenas, the voyage will set off on the long passage to the island of Puka Puka, in the Cook Islands. A stop will then be made at Guam, in the Mariana Islands, before arriving at the mid-point of the voyage at Cebu, in the Philippine Islands.
“After calling at Palawan, Brunei, Tidore, Ambon and Timor, the modern Elcano will cross the South Indian Ocean to South Africa. Having passed the Cape of Good Hope, the voyage will turn north, cross the Equator to the Cape Verde Islands, then head for Sanlúcar de Barrameda and finally Seville.”