Skippers
Zbigniew Gutkowski
One of Poland's best known and most experienced sailors with a wealth of offshore and inshore racing. The 36-year-old first honed his talents as a member of the Polish national sailing team, representing his nation in the 470 dinghy class from 1987 to 1995. He also spent several years campaigning state of the art 49er dinghies and was one of the most successful crews in Poland. In 2000 Zbigniew, known as 'Gutek', turned his hand to offshore sailing. Gutek hopes to be the first Polish sailor ever to race solo around the world. He has clocked up more than 100,000 nautical miles at sea and will be adding another 30,000 to his tally when he competes in the Eco 60 class in the 2010/11 VELUX 5 OCEANS.
Learn more at operonracing.com
Derek Hatfield
When Derek Hatfield started work as a Canadian mounted policeman in 1971, little did he know nearly 40 years on he would be one of the most respected solo sailors in the world. Back then he specialized in complex fraud investigations - now he specializes in racing state of the art yachts thousands of miles across the world's toughest oceans, alone. In 2003 the Canadian steered his yacht to a podium position in the VELUX 5 OCEANS (then known as the Around Alone). It was a magnificent achievement - during one of the legs Derek's yacht flipped over and its mast was destroyed in a huge storm off Cape Horn. Somehow Derek limped to land and spent five weeks repairing the damage before again setting sail. He was rewarded for his efforts with third place in the race.
Learn more at SpritofCanada.net
Christophe Bullens
After a catalogue of setbacks to his VELUX 5 OCEANS campaign, Christophe Bullens was forced to withdraw from the race on January 3. The tenacious Belgian overcame countless problems including the dismasting of his original yacht Five Oceans of Smiles, the purchase of a new yacht, a split mainsail, a broken forestay, electrical issues, a severe water leak and illness. After setting sail from Cape Town four times Christophe was left with no choice but to retire after developing mast problems.
Learn more at atlantic60.eu
Brad Van Liew
A self proclaimed adrenaline junkie, Charleston native Brad is a big guy with a big personality. Scuba diving, offroad motorbike racing, horseback riding, hunting - you name it, Brad does it. Brad is attempting his third solo race around the world. In 1998 he competed in the Around Alone finishing third in class two, in 2002 Brad returned with a new fire inside of him and won every single leg of the race in class two. Now, after eight years away from solo sailing, Brad is back. In a nod to his return to ocean racing, Brad has called his campaign Team Lazarus.
Learn more at oceanracing.org
Chris Stanmore-Major
Chris - known as CSM grew up in Paignton on the English Riviera and was taught to sail by his father Peter. He got his first experience life at sea at the age of 18 when he became a tall ship rigger for the Hong Kong Outward Bound School - and he hasn't looked back since. CSM has spent the last ten years working as a professional sailor and has competed in every major regatta in Hong Kong whilst living there in the last few years. He captained a boat for the Hong Kong team in the 2008 Commodore's Cup in Cowes and also worked with the Chinese team on their America's Cup yacht 'Longtze'. He has only just got back from sailing round the world as a skipper in the Clipper Round the World Race and already he is straight into his next adventure - the VELUX 5 OCEANS.
Learn more at csmoffshore.com
Content courtesy of VELUX 5 OCEANS
