BACKParis sails into history
| With a wave and a smile, not to mention a huge sigh of relief, sailor Alan Paris ended his nine-month ocean odyssey yesterday, becoming the first Bermudian in history to complete a solo circumnavigation. Welcomed by a flotilla of press and pleasure boats, he crossed the finish line of the gruelling Around Alone Race at 4.15 p.m. local time – 202 days, 11 hours, nine minutes and 52 seconds after embarking on a daunting journey during which he would guide his 40-foot yacht, BTC Velocity, through more than 28,000 miles of unpredictable and often unfriendly waters. Still feeling the effects of an encounter with two whales which left him with severely bruised ribs shortly after setting off on the final leg of the race from Salvador in Brazil four weeks ago, Paris was in high spirits as he climbed the mast of his brightly painted red and yellow craft and waved a Bermuda flag to signal the end of his incredible adventure. Wife Becky and two-year-old son Tucker were on hand to greet him, as they had been on all of his previous four ports of call, while his parents and several friends gathered on the Newport dock to offer their congratulations as he stepped ashore. And almost immediately there was a surprise call from legendary solo sailor Sir Robin Knox Johnston who, from his home in England, told the 38-year-old Bermudian: “Alan you made it at last. It’s been a great adventure, it’s been great following you. You’ve done it and you’re the first Bermudian to do it and you must be very proud. “Remember, you’re now the member of a very small and special club.” Knox Johnston was referring to the fact that Paris had become only the 125th yachtsman to complete a solo voyage around the globe. “Ten times that number have climbed Everest. That just goes to show how difficult a task it was that you undertook,” added the veteran yachtsman. Sipping champagne, Paris admitted he still hadn’t come to terms with what he had achieved. “I don’t know that it’s registered yet,” he said. “I guess more than anything it’s relief - relief that I don’t have to keep an eye out for shipping every 20 minutes, that I’m not bailing water out of the bilge, that I don’t have to check my engine every day. Finally I can let my guard down. “It just hasn’t hit me yet. I’m back in Newport and it feels relatively normal. This is the place to be if you’re a sailor and it feels great. I think when I get back to Bermuda it’ll kick in that I’ve been around the block. “It was difficult, but it was progressive. If you look at it as one lump, it seems difficult to chew off. But if you take it bit by bit, before you know it you’re back in Newport.” However, it was an expedition, he insisted, that he had no desire to repeat. “There’s no reason to do it again. In fact, I wouldn’t do it again,” he said “There’s nothing in the race that took place that put me off. But I have no desire to do it again, once is completely enough and I don’t need to do it again. It was wonderful to do it the first time, and just because you do it a second time doesn’t mean you’ll finish.” He spoke at length of the journey’s highs and lows, of the surprises and the lessons learned. “I guess one of the biggest surprises was that I didn’t find it as difficult as I thought I was going to. It was enjoyable, almost all of the time. “As for lessons, there were so many. You learn about keeping your boat together, you learn how far you can push it so that you can make it to port, you learn how to keep yourself together, whether that just be sleep, diet or exercise. There are just so many elements in single-handed sailing, lots of things you learn as you go along.” Paris said he was particularly proud to have added another chapter to Bermuda’s rich sailing history. “Bermuda was discovered in 1609 with a shipwreck, and I haven’t added to the shipwrecks, which is a good thing,” he joked. “But you know it’s wonderful to be the first Bermudian to finish an around the world solo race. Bermuda has a lot of nautical history and there’s many Bermudians who have done some incredible sailing ...people like Warren Brown. We’ve got great sailors like Peter Bromby. “The discipline I chose was different. It’s wonderful to be the first and wonderful to add to the history of Bermuda. I didn’t do it for that, but it’s nice nevertheless.” |