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Australian solo sailing adventurer and environmental campaigner Lisa Blair has set a new monohull solo sailing record for Auckland to Auckland around New Zealand in 16 days and 23 hrs in her yacht Climate Action Now.
She was greeted with a spectacular sunrise as she crossed the start/finish line off Rangitoto Island by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS), who will help adjudicate her new record.
“I'm so incredibly proud to have become the first person to sail solo around NZ, I faced all conditions and sailed through two storms on my journey before finishing at in Auckland Harbour.
“I really worked hard the whole way around to set a time that I feel will be challenging to break and now I have no doubt a Kiwi will have a go soon,” Lisa said.
During her voyage, she encountered orcas and albatross along with monster waves and storms, surfing a swell at a record 23 knots for the trip as she pushed hard to establish the new voyage time.
She also encountered floating plastics in pristine waters off the southern coast of New Zealand, something she is campaigning to raise awareness about.
Blair crossed the start line at 7.57am (NZ time) on Tuesday, May 7 and finished at 7.42am today, sailing over 2,672 nm.
“I didn’t sleep last night at all, and after micro 20 min sleeps the whole journey, my focus is now on a hot shower, a good meal and very big sleep,” she said.
Only last month, Blair set a new record of 8 days, 3 hours and 19 minutes from Sydney to Auckland.
The RNZYS will adjudicate her latest attempt in collaboration with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) and the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC). It required her course to enclose the whole of New Zealand including all rocks and islands lying within 8nm of the mainland.
Blair’s Climate Action Now campaign started in 2015,and having sailed remote seas around the globe where she witnessed plastic pollution, she says her campaign is about spreading a call to action.
Lisa Blair on board Climate Action Now. Photos / Supplied
“I'm sailing to save our oceans and to show people that as an individual we all have the power to create change, it just starts with one action.
“I'm a firm believer that we can change and so undertake these records to show that together we can create a better future. It just starts with one positive climate action.”
Blair is the current world record holder for sailing solo, non-stop and unassisted around Antarctica in 2022, breaking the record by 10 days to add to her four previous world records. - with RNZYS
