OSTAR – Competitors

5th May 2024

OSTAR 2024 Competitors

Boat NameTypeLOAName
BLUE HORIZONDelphia47Jacek Chabowski
ODYSSEYJod 3535Tomasz Ladyko
ALCHEMYJ12139.93David Southwell
David Southwell
Alchemy

Competitors

David Southwell – Alchemy

David was born one year a4er the first OSTAR and grew up mucking about in dinghies in the mudflats of Essex and reading about Robin Knox-Johnson, Francis Chichester and Blondie Hasler.

He moved to the US and big boat racing in 1980 and has raced and cruised offshore in Texas, Newport, and the Caribbean. He’s raced between Newport and Bermuda each of the last ten years in his Morris 48, and then Alchemy, his J/121. David’s solo and doublehanded experience includes three Bermuda One-Twos, one Bermuda Shorthanded Return, and various offshore
races around Newport. The OSTAR has been on his bucket list since he was a boy, and he’s excited to experience the AtlanXc a4er flying over it over a hundred Xmes.

Alchemy is a fiberglass J/121 launched in 2018 with a carbon mast. J Boats designed the 121 as a shorthanded offshore cruiser/racer, but unlike some of the other 121s Alchemy doesn’t have water ballast. David has added a doghouse with solar panels on top to help with charging, a beanbag to help with sleeping and a speaker to help keep him sane while offshore.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Blue Horizon

Jacek Chabowski – Blue Horizon

Jacek: Born in 1970 in Gdansk, Poland. Under sail since 1982. Some racing successes – Polish Sea Sailing Champion 2015. Winner of the South Baltic Cup in 2014. Winner of the Polish Sea Sailing Cup 2014. Three times winner of the L.Teliga Solitary Regatta Award. Repeated participant of the most difficult solo regatta in the Baltic Sea – Battle of Gotland. Skipper Polled Sailing Team. Many other racing successes achieved with the Polled Sailing Team. Surrounded areas: Baltic Sea, North Sea, Bay of Biscay (4 times, including once alone), Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Adriatic, Saronic Bay.
Owner of a sailing school and yacht service – Sailing Factory (sailingfactory.pl).
Total sailing experience about 40.000 NM.
Father of Maciej and Kinga, husband of wonderful woman, Alinka.

Blue Horizon:
Type: Delphia 47 (sloop)
Year of construction: 2010
Length 47 feet, yacht of the ocean class (A).
Designed by Andrzej Skrzat, produced in the Polish yacht shipyard Delphia.
The yacht is well equipped and adapted for solo sailing, including oceanic sailing.

Tomasz Ladyko
Odyssey - Tomasz Ladyko

Tomasz Ladyko – Odyssey

My name is Tomasz Ladyko and I was Born in 1977. Started to sail in the High Schol, but it was rather occasionally sailing. I felt the smell of salt water during studies and for many years it was sailing in rather remote areas such as Iceland, Greenland, Spitsbergen, and Antarctic. 7 years ago I tried single handed sailing during Polonez Regatta on Baltic Sea and from that time Is tried to develop my skills on that area. I’ve finished 4 times 500 nm regatta around the Gotland Island called Battle of Gotland (organized by former OSTAR participant Krystian) and now decided to cross Atlantic with OSTAR race.

Hull: Monohull
Class: JOD 35 Jenneau One Design 35
Sail No: POL 19679
Designer: Daniel Andrieu
LOA: 10,62
LWL: 9,05
Beam: 3,50
Draught: 1,95

James Mansell
Escape

James Mansell – Escape

With a love of water sports from a young age, I became a water sports instructor, teaching white water canoeing and sailing. In between working offshore on the rigs in the North Sea and undertaking various work adventures around the world, I continued white water canoeing whilst also racing my Merlin Rocket dinghy.

Some 15 years ago having established a successful and growing business, I purchased my first yacht and with my family we have explored most of the West and South coast of the UK. During this time I met my good friend Eric Zon during a very drunken night in a bar in Qatar. Team Sea Camels was launched and we proceeded to undertake a range of races together including the Three Peaks Yacht Race. This led to us completing a range of other races over the last few years such as the Fastnet, Sydney Hobart, Caribbean 600 along with double handed races such as Round Ireland and the Azores and Back (AZAB). We also completed the last edition of the RWYC’s Round Britain and Ireland double handed yacht race, coming first overall under IRC, whilst also surviving being pitchpoled in the North Sea in some 60+ knots of wind.

The OSTAR has always been on my bucket list. With Eric off with his family to sail to sunnier climes in his aluminium expedition yacht for a year or two (before we undertake some Tilman type trips to the Frozen North), now seems like a good time to take a brave pill and go solo. Anyway I found my 500Nm solo qualifier remarkably enjoyable and did manage some sleep, so here goes.

I am now looking forward not only to the race, but too also completing this challenge in support of WaterAid and raising as much money as possible for them along the way.