OSTAR 2020 THE ONES TO WATCH

There are 14 solo skippers entered into the OSTAR 2020, which will see them race 3,000 miles across the Atlantic from Plymouth to Newport, Rhode Island.

PETER CROWTHER

2020 will be Peter Crowther’s 11th OSTAR, having first entered in 1972 sailing the 64-year-old gaff cutter Golden Vanity with six cats. Former owner of Galway Blazer II, which was built for Bill King’s 1968 Golden Globe Race, he was rescued by a container ship in the 1996 race when the junk-rigged schooner sank after being holed by an object. The 78-year-old will be sailing the Swan 38, Suomi Kudu, which still has her original primary winches with no self tailing and has a Pacific wind pilot for self-steering.

KASS SCHMITT

Kass Schmitt, 50, hopes to become the first American woman to complete the OSTAR. She entered the 2017 OSTAR in her Humphreys custom 36ft yacht Zest. Schmitt was forced to retire due to the same Atlantic storm which hit Wheatley, although she managed to sail 2,300 miles solo, having sustained only minor damage.

She recently raced Zest in the 2019 Mailasail AZAB.

MERVYN WHEATLEY

A former Royal Marines officer, Mervyn Wheatley, 76, has sailed 245,000 miles and has completed 19 Atlantic crossings, including five OSTARS. In the 2017 race, he was knocked down in his Formosa

42, Tamarind, during a hurricanestrength storm. The yacht’s electronics and steering failed and it began taking on water. Wheatley had to scuttle Tamarind and was rescued by the Queen Mary 2. Shortly after his return, he bought the Bowman 40 Arethusa of Yealm, which he raced in the 2019 Mailasail Azores and Back Race (AZAB).

ERTAN BESKARDES

2018 Golden Globe Race (GGR) skipper, Ertan Beskardes, 58, has spent most of his life sailing solo. One of the last skippers to sign up for the GGR, he bought his Rustler 36, Lazy Otter, for the race, but having crossed the start line realised he was not ready and made the decision to retire.

He was one of the first entrants for the 2022 GGR. This will be his first OSTAR.

The start of the Mailasail OSTAR TWOSTAR 2020 on 10 May 2020 is the culmination of Plymouth’s week-long Mayflower Ocean Festival which will include talks from American yacht designer Dick Carter, Plymouth’s Pirate Weekend, and a visit by the tall ship Atyla. Visit rwyc.org/ostar/ or www.visitplymouth.co.uk for further information.