Polish amateur sailor completes solo Atlantic crossing

Kuba Strzyczkowski on the Atlantic: photo - Polish Radio/Joanna Siemiak

“It's taken me 24 days and over a dozen hours,” he said on dropping anchor in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean.

“It was rather long, perhaps if I had sailed along a northerly route, it would have been faster,” he reflected.

“But I wasn't racing with anyone,” he concluded.

“I was racing with my dreams.”

Strzyczkowski began his odyssey at Vilamoura in Portugal, passing through Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, and then on to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean.

A specially fitted yacht was prepared for him for the voyage.

Besides wrestling with the elements, he gave daily reports to listeners via Polish Radio.

The valiant sailor is due to be welcomed back to Warsaw on 17 December, although he won't have to navigate the return journey, as he's coming home by air this time. (nh)