OSTAR – Competitors

Peter Bourke  –  Rubicon

Peter:  I was born in the town of Brentwood, County of Essex, near London, though my family moved to the United States shortly after my sixth birthday, and I grew up in the suburbs of New York City.

After graduating from High School in 1968, I enlisted in the US Marine Corps where I spent three of the longest, if most memorable, years of my life. Following that chapter, I attended the State University of New York (SUNY) where I majored in economics, and that led to a career in the investment business.

I’ve been an armchair sailor for most of my life, but I didn’t take up the real thing until my late forties. After retirement I bought Rubicon, an Outbound 44 and one of Carl Schumacher’s last designs. I’ve covered a lot of lot of miles sailing Rubicon in local waters, and also been lucky enough to take her to the Caribbean on a few occasions for some extended cruising. I’ve done very little racing on Rubicon, the highpoint being a win in the double-handed leg of the Bermuda 1-2 race in 2007 – a victory I attribute mainly to my co-skipper on that race. I was the last official finisher of the 2009 OSTAR. While it was a disappointing finish, it did give me enough material to complete the memoir I’d been working on. ‘Sea Trials, A Lone Sailor’s Race Toward Home’, was published in 2014 by McGraw Hill. I don’t expect another book to come out of my 2020 effort, but I am hoping for some improvement over my previous record.

Rubicon:

details to come

Mervyn Wheatley  –  Arethusa of Yealm

Mervyn:

Mervyn is a former Royal Marines officer and will be aged 76 for the OSTAR. He has sailed 245,000nm and has completed 19 Atlantic crossings, including five OSTARs. He has also competed in five RB&Is and seven solo AZABs. He was a skipper on the first Clipper RTW Race in 1996 and also for some legs of the 05/06 Race. He was knocked down in Tamarind on the last OSTAR and rescued by the Queen Mary 2. Shortly after his return, he bought Arethusa of Yealm, a Bowman 40, and has already sailed her to the Azores and back singlehanded. He has entered AZAB 19.

He is married with two adult children and lives in Newton Ferrers, Devon

Arethusa:

details to come

Krystian Szypka  –  Hallelujah

Krystian:  (born 1972, Polish) – finisher of OSTAR2013 (3rd in Jester), experienced single-handed sailor, yacht master and sailing instructor (sea safety and navigation expert). Organizer of Battle of Gotland single-handed race – one of most difficult regattas on Baltic Sea and co-founder of project Ocean Team supporting many challenging Polish ocean projects. Besides sailing: helicopter pilot, scuba diver, father of 2 sons and husband of fantastic woman. Occupation: manager in automotive industry.

Some details about off-shore races:

2010, 2011, 2012 – Singlehanded races Polonez Cup – 200nm nonstop on western Baltic Sea – best result: 3^rd in Open Class

2012, 2013, 2014 – Singlehanded races Battle of Gotland – 500nm nonstop on east-central Baltic Sea – twice 1^st, once 2^nd position (and still owner of time record for boats below 60ft)

2013 – OSTAR – 3^rd in Jester Class

Over 30.000nm sailed off-shore including about 9.000nm on solitaire

Hallelujah: type: DELPHIA 46DS, designed and built in Poland (2011) by Delphia Yachts (designer Andrzej Skrzat). Ocean going cruiser with LOA of 14meters and 120sqm of basic sails. Class A. GPR hull and aluminum mast, sloop rigging with furlers and independent storm sails. Central cockpit and deck saloon give a lot of comfort and safety. Boat well equipped for shorthanded navigation as well as for solo sailors. Full safety equipment. Even not designed for races quite quick especially for long distance passages both upwind and downwind (with additional 150sqm asymmetric spinnaker).

For ocean passage the boat is equipped with: diesel power generator, wind power generator, desalinator, heating system, satellite communication and doubled navigation system,

For singlehanded race: doubled autopilot, radar, active radar reflector and other gadgets including aggressive alarm clock to be sure that the short sleeping will be controlled.

Of course, such things like SOLAS life raft, grab-bags, EPIRB, PLB, AIS-SART and other safety staff is on board. Boat meets all WS OSR demands for category Mo1.

Competitors intro text here…