As of last last week, Markos Spyropoulos has the distinction of being the first Greek sailor in history who has successfully managed to cross the Atlantic all by himself.
The experienced Greek captain took part in the Mini Transat 6.50 Competition, completing the journey in a mere 17 days, 13 hours, 47 minutes and 50 seconds. Spyropoulos finished in 11th place among 80 participants in the race for sailboats which are 6.5 meters (21.3 feet) long.
Spyropoulos successfully landed on the tiny island of Martinique in the Caribbean, with the last spot of land in Europe he stood on being La Palma in the Grand Canary Islands.
The Mini Transat 6.50, also known as “Transat 650” is a solo transatlantic yacht race which starts in France and ends in Le Marin Bay, Martinique in the Caribbean.
The race covers 4,020 nautical miles, with stops only at Madeira and the Canary Islands. The yachts in this race are extraordinarily small considering the size of waves which occur in the Atlantic and the distance the boats have to cover.
All the craft are sanctioned by the “Miniclasse 6.5” organization and have strict material specifications.
The race runs on odd-numbered years and sailors qualify by covering one of two specified 1,000 mile courses along with having 1,500 miles of ocean racing experience — much of it solo.
Spyropoulos is not only the first Greek citizen to cross the Atlantic solo, but is also the first to finish the grueling Mini Transat Race. Sailors use unique equipment in this prototype category, including traditional nautical maps, basic GPS navigation and VHF radios, without any outside assistance whatsoever.
The race undoubtedly belongs in the “Extreme” category, as these particular boats have no heads, no bed — not even a galley to prepare food — and the sailor is alone in the ocean for more than two weeks.
Spyropoulos says that he has been a sailor all his life. He started on very small boats and then 420s. After finishing his studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, he began working as a sailing instructor before officially becoming a licensed skipper in 1994.
The Greek man has sailed all over the world, crossing the Atlantic seven times and sailing around the globe once, all on “Maxi”-type yachts of 60 to 100 feet. In 2004 he was at anchor in the Cape Verde islands when he saw two Minis which had moored there with mechanical problems.
From that first sighting, it was all over for Spyropoulos, and he decided that he must participate in the “Mini” race when he had the time and the money.
The experienced sailor acknowledged, however, that he had to make sacrifices to take part in the Mini Transat 6.50. He quit a nice job with a good salary as the captain of a large sailing yacht two years ago to begin this quest.
He purchased his own “Mini,” then upgraded it and made further preparations for the next two years. The seasoned skipper had some minor race sponsors to help with expenses but that was not enough to cover all of them.
But managing to participate in and finish the race, as well as learning the skills needed to complete such an arduous task, he says, was a great reward in itself that no money can buy.
Spyropoulos is the second Greek sailor to have participated in the Mini Transat and to have completed the journey. The first man who tried it, way back in 1983, quit the race on the first day when he realized that he wasn’t well prepared.
Greece’s new conqueror of the Atlantic said that the race was really a race for self-discovery, and he is simply happy to have reached the finish.
His ambition now is to encourage the inclusion of offshore racing in the 2028 Olympics and to bring this beautiful and challenging sport to Greece.
Source: banksnews.gr