The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Seaman sets new record sailing round the globe
Asailor from the Outer Hebrides has set a new round-the-world boating record. Iain Macneil from the Isle of Barra sailed into the record books in the sub-24 metre motor yacht class when he took 166 days to circumnavigate the globe.
Captain Macneil and his four crew members set off from the Canary Islands on December 1 aboard their converted Swedish searchand-rescue vessel MV Astra and moored back up in the same spot on Monday.
Captain Macneil, born and raised at Criochan overlooking Brevig Bay in Barra, is the CEO of Livingston-based maritime publishers, Witherbys, and a former Merchant Navy seaman.
MV Astra is the first sub-24m motor-powered vessel to circumnavigate the globe via both southern capes, making this a new world record. To qualify for the record, they also had to cross the equator twice and cover all 360 degrees of longitude.
The crew were 151 days at sea – the rest at anchor or in port.
The journey of around 27,000nm took just over five months, and started and finished in the Puerto Calero, Lanzarote. Their route passed south of the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa), Cape Leeuwin (Western Australia), South Cape (New Zealand) and Cape Horn (Chile).
A mechanical problem while sailing south of Montevideo caused several issues, as the crew discovered a mooring rope or fishing net had become entangled in the propeller.
The vibration badly shook the mechanical stern seal and resulted in a loss of 15 litres of oil into the vessel’s bilges. It cleared the following morning, but for safety purposes a team of divers had to inspect the propeller and rudder in Ushuaia (Argentina) before Captain Macneil rounded Cape Horn and undertook the crossing of the Pacific.
Captain Macneil said previously: “After rounding Cape Horn, the Chilean authorities would not let us enter Chilean Territorial Waters to proceed to Ushuaia in Argentina to refuel. We did not have enough fuel and had to double back 140 miles to approach Ushuaia from the Beagle Channel.
“This coincided with a storm we were racing ahead of, and so we were stormbound in Ushuaia for three days. We successfully rounded the Horn on January 19.”