Single-handed around the world: Non-stop circumnavigation on 22 feet - final spurt for Kuczynski

Polish single-handed sailor Szymon Kuczynski has crossed the equator for the second time on his single-handed non-stop circumnavigation. The 37-year-old is now sailing on the North Atlantic again and still has around 4,000 nautical miles to go to his port of departure, Plymouth.

He set off from there on 19 August 2017 to sail around the three great capes of South Africa, Australia and South America alone and without stopping in his 6.30-metre Maxus. He has now been at sea for over 230 days. He has already completed the majority of his 28,000 nautical mile journey, but still has the North Atlantic and the English Channel ahead of him.

After the passage of Cape Horn, the modified 22-footer initially made very slow progress in the South Atlantic, travelling at speeds of one and a half to three knots and with correspondingly low distances travelled. Kuczynski had been sailing with a reduced sail area since Cape Horn, as his mast had been damaged in the storm.

On reaching the South Atlantic at the end of February, the skipper started repairs to the ship and rig, including repairing spreaders, position lights and the AIS antenna on the masthead. He also fixed the damaged area of the mast with a self-laminated rail.

This is Kuczynski's first attempt to sail around the world single-handed and non-stop. However, he has already completed a circumnavigation on his Maxus 22 "Atlantic Puffin": From 2014 to 2016, he sailed her round the world on the barefoot route. The Pole has not registered an official record attempt for the solo non-stop circumnavigation in the smallest boat to date ("I didn't have the budget for that"). Nevertheless, his self-declared goal is to top the performance of the Italian Alessandro di Benedetto. The latter sailed around the world non-stop in a modified Mini 6.50 in 2010 - in 268 days.

In a summary from on board, Kuczynski writes: "I want to cross my own finish line at the harbour entrance to Plymouth on 14 May at 20:00 UTC. Then I will have been travelling for exactly 268 days. Until then, the race continues!"

The "Atlantic Puffin" is currently travelling roughly parallel to its old course when Kuczynski sailed south on the Atlantic towards the Cape of Good Hope. You can follow the sailor and the boat in the Online tracker and on his Facebook page "Zew Oceanu" (Polish).

The extreme sailor now has his own fan base on social media - sailors and followers are signalling their virtual support for him under the hashtag #GoSzymon.