Ian Herbert-Jones, a UK sailor, who is preparing for the Golden Globe Race 2022, has become an Associate Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN).

The Golden Globe Race (GGR) is an incredibly challenging solo, non-stop and unassisted adventure sailing race around the world, using only traditional boats and navigation. The race commences in September 2022 from Les Sables-d'Olonne, France.

The GGR commemorates the original Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in 1968-69, in which Sir Robin-Knox Johnston completed the first non-stop, solo circumnavigation. The race is unique in being the longest endurance event in sport with competitors being alone at sea for up to nine months and travelling about 30,000 miles, while only using traditional boats and traditional navigation; so that’s paper charts and celestial navigation. Each race boat, however, will be equipped with the latest modern safety equipment, including emergency positioning beacons, satellite phones, and a live race tracker, that audiences can follow online. The competitors at sea will have no access to GPS information, except in the case of an emergency. See more about the Golden Globe Race 2022 at https://goldengloberace.com/ggr-2022/.

Ian is an amateur adventure sailor, with a fulltime day job. He has 25 years and over 40,000 miles sailing experience, having completed one circumnavigation in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 2008. His sailing base or the GGR campaign will be Pwllheli in North Wales on the Irish Sea.

He first learned to sail while serving with the British Army over 20 years ago, where he served as avionics engineer in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He is currently an international business executive, working as the Chief Revenue Officer at Shiftboard Inc and has spent most of his career in the mobile telecommunications industry. Ian is married and has three teenage children.

Ian said “I’m really honoured to become an Associate Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and I am excited about meeting the RIN members and participating in the virtual and in-person events. The Golden Globe Race is a huge challenge with traditional values of seamanship and navigation skills at its core, so I look forward to sharing the adventure and learning from the advice and experience of other members”.

We also hope to invite Ian in some speaking events online in the spring 2021 and in-person events once COVID subsides.

Ian’s campaign for the GGR is well underway. He has already purchased a proven race boat, named Puffin, a Tradewind 35, and has been busy refitting her this year in preparation for some extensive solo sea trials in 2021.

Ian has had tremendous support from many official equipment sponsors, posted at https://www.hjsailing.com/team-partners. He is currently seeking a title & team partners to sponsor him in the GGR 2022.

There are several ways to get involved and support his sailing adventure:
JOIN THE COMMUNITY. You can join the HJSailing Sailing Community to receive updates & newsletters before the race and also to follow the Live Tracker during the race itself. Registering on the HJSailing website at https://www.hjsailing.com/join-the-hj-sailing-community/.
VOLUNTEER. Although this is a solo race, it takes a team to succeed. If you are interested to volunteer, you can contact Ian at ian@hjsailing.com.
DONATE. We welcome your donation. You can contribute to this epic adventure at GoFundMe: https://uk.gofundme.com/f/hj-sailing-golden-globe-race.

We wish Ian the greatest success his incredible adventure, and we look forward to hearing about his preparation and experience in the Golden Globe Race 2022.

For more information, go to www.hjsailing.com.

Paul Hankey, Digital Marketing Lead, HJSailing Team, paul@hjsailing.com