BACKBermudian Sailor Alan qualifies for gruelling round-world solo race
by Jessie Moniz
A FORMER local hotel manager has become the first Bermudian ever to qualify for a gruelling 30,000-mile solo sailing race around the world.
Last month, Alan Paris, former general manager of Ariel Sands Club & Cottages, became the first of 19 entrants to qualify for the annual Around Alone Race to be held in September.
This year's race will start in New York City, as part of the September 11 memorial events. The race normally leaves from Newport, Rhode Island, but this year organisers Clipper Ventures allowed Around Alone to join "Sail For America", a one-time event taking place in New York Harbour to commemorate the first anniversary of the tragic events of September 11.
The goal is to fill New York Harbour with thousands of sails, symbols of "hope and beauty".
"I am a Bermudian," said Mr. Paris. "My goal is to be the first Bermudian to sail single-handedly around the world."
Mr. Paris worked as general manager of Ariel Sands for 12 years.
"The rigours of the tourism industry prepared me well for dealing with unexpected crises on the high seas," Mr. Paris said.
The qualifying passage across the Atlantic from Bermuda to the Canary Islands was not an easy one for Mr. Paris. The journey was 2,500 miles long and part of the way there he and his boat BTC Velocity became caught in the middle of a force 10 gale with winds up to 60 miles an hour and 20-foot seas.
"It was a 16-day passage," Mr. Paris said. "Although it wasn't a race, the idea behind it was to continue the training process for myself. That is why I chose a passage that was longer than I needed.
"You only have to go 2,000 miles to qualify, but I chose a longer one because I needed the extra time at sea. I sailed directly from Bermuda to the Canary Islands."
The Around Alone Race 2002 will start on September 15 in New York City. Mr. Paris and other solo sailors will travel from New York City to Torbay, England to Cape Town, South Africa to Tauranga, New Zealand to Salvador, Brazil and finish in Newport, Rhode Island.
"On September 12 we will be doing a delivery with crew on board from Newport, Rhode Island to New York," Mr. Paris said. "The boats will then be assembling at the Intrepid Museum, a decommissioned aircraft carrier docked on the southwest side of Manhattan.
"It is a great opportunity to get people on board these boats. I have invited someone from BTC and the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) and others to join me. It is an overnight ride."
"The start of the race will be between the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero," said Ralph Richardson, executive director of the BUEI. "It will be quite an event, much bigger than just having it in Newport."
Mr. Paris said there were 19 entrants in the race and numbers would likely swell to 22 or 23.
"I am the first person to qualify for the race," he said. "I am lucky at this point to be in the advanced planning stages. There is always a hiccup. Mine is that I have a mechanical problem with my engine right now. That is why I am sitting here in Bermuda and am not in Las Palmas, Spain, on my way back."
Mr. Paris used his time in Bermuda to speak to an audience at the Fairmont Southampton Princess Hotel last week.
"It is nice to come back for ten days," he said. "Once the problem with my engine was diagnosed it was a matter of waiting for parts to come from Madrid, Spain."
Mr. Richardson said that because Mr. Paris was a Bermudian doing something Bermudians had never done before – sailing solo around the world – the BUEI decided to bring Mr. Paris' adventure to local schoolchildren. "We didn't want local schoolchildren just following the race," said Mr. Richardson. "We thought this would be an excellent time to highlight our maritime past for our kids. So now BUEI has been set up as the local race headquarters, especially from the educational point.
"We will be the place where all information is passed through. We have enrolled 16 local schools at the primary and middle school level. And the young people will get to communicate with Alan during the race.
"We also have an after-school programme here through the Ministry of Youth & Sport.
"The kids in the after-school programme will be able to trace Alan's position, as will the schools. There are really 17 different groups that will be following Alan. We want them to communicate with him so they can really feel the event happening."
Mr. Richardson said Mr. Paris' participation in the race and the resulting educational initiatives could not have happened without help from a number of sponsors, including the Bermuda Telephone Company (BTC), which has lent its name to Mr. Paris' boat, and the ACE Foundation and XL Foundation.
For details check out the Around Alone Race 2002 web site at www.aroundalone.com