DIY sailor completes round-the-world trip

3 hours ago

News image — Adam Waugh had little international sailing experience before embarking on the inaugural Mini Globe Race

Rob Havill Arms aloft in triumph, grey-haired Adam Waugh arrives in Antigua aboard his white, red, blue and yellow 19ft (5.8m) yacht called Little Wren, adorned in flags and sponsorship logos, travelling 28,000 nautical miles in the inaugural Mini Globe Race. — Adam Waugh had little international sailing experience before embarking on the inaugural Mini Globe Race

A 61-year-old man has completed a round-the-world voyage in a boat he hand-built in his garden shed.

Adam Waugh, from Angerton in Northumberland, had limited sailing experience before signing up for the inaugural Mini Globe Race.

He arrived in Antigua on Monday after travelling 28,000 nautical miles solo around the world in his 19ft (5.8m) yacht Little Wren, raising £60,000 for UK cancer charity The Ella Dawson Foundation.

Waugh said he was feeling "on top of the world" after a total of 250 days at sea.

"I thought it would take a while for it to sink in, but within minutes of crossing the finish line there was a weight lifted off my shoulders and a... feeling of real elation," he told BBC Radio Newcastle.

"The biggest challenge [of the trip] was mental rather than physical. It's a very small boat and the seas were quite big, so quite often you couldn't be outside, you had to be sitting inside the cabin for safety reasons.

"A lot of time in a very small area in intense heat was testing. But it's amazing what you can do and what you get used to."

'Tough moments'

Waugh began building Little Wren in early 2022, spending two years constructing the yacht in his shed at home, before she was launched at Amble Marina in March 2024 for sea trials.

After being transported to Portugal in December 2024, Waugh completed his first offshore passage to Lanzarote, then took his first solo 3,000-nautical-mile qualifying voyage to Antigua.

In February last year he lined up with 14 other competitors in identical Class Globe 5.80 yachts for the start of the inaugural Mini Globe Race.

During the qualifying trip, he broke several ribs falling over in rough seas and a key piece of equipment, his spinnaker pole, was lost overboard.

But Waugh, who is the first known Northumbrian to sail solo around the world in a self-built yacht under 20ft (6m), said there were also lots of highlights.

Ella Dawson Foundation A smiling young woman with long blonde hair and wearing a blue denim jacket sits on a sandy beach. She holds bubble mixture in a yellow container in her left hand, while preparing to dip the bubble wand into the solution with her right hand. — Newcastle University student Ella Dawson died in 2021 aged 24

"This journey has pushed me to my limits in ways I never imagined," he said.

"There have been incredible highs and some very tough moments, but I feel truly privileged to have experienced it."

He said he loved seeing sunrises and sunsets on the ocean, as well as whales, some great white sharks, turtles and sea crocodiles.

"And of course you spend a lot of time on your own and having time to reflect on life, so has been quite a journey."

The Ella Dawson Foundation was set up in memory of Newcastle University student Ella Dawson, who died from cancer in 2021, aged just 24.

The foundation offers tailored well-being services designed to help young people live well at every stage of their cancer journey, supporting more than 1,000 young adults and their families in the UK each year.

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