Keep it in the family. Keep it Tasmanian.
by John Curnow, Sail-World.com AUS Editor 30 Nov 21:00 UTC
Ken Gourlay OAM and Spirit Silver Edition © Ken Gourlay
Seeing as we have been somewhat zeroed in on Tassie over the last little while, let's just keep on going! Now the Australian with the fastest time for a solo, non-stop, and unassisted circumnavigation of this here planet is Ken Gourlay, OAM. He's a native of Launceston, which is the capital of Northern Tasmania, as Hobart is for the South, for the Taswegians definitely like the divide.
At any rate, Ken had Australian Sailing ratify his elapsed time from Devonport to Devonport of 179 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes, and 58 seconds. He started on November 6, 2006, and returned home on May 6, 2007 at 51 years of age, and collected oldest as well as only Tasmanian in the process. His best 24-hour run was 198nm, maximum boat speed was 19 knots, saw 74 knots TWS, and travelled 22,694.7nm for his lap.
Here's the kicker then. His 42-foot boat, Spirit Silver Edition, was designed by Andy Dovell, and built by himself using the magical King Billy Pine with four layers of 600 gram biaxial glass on either side to form one very sturdy composite. How's that for an all-Australian affair? Not surprisingly, Spirit Silver Edition still lives on today, just South of Hobart in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel.
"I said to Andy, that A, she's got to be pretty and then B, she's got to be strong. I never want to have a question about if is she strong in a storm in the Southern Ocean, and to that point she was fine," commented Gourlay. Placing the exclamation mark after that is that the skin is so strong she needed no frames. Her foam core bulkheads were integral, however.
Back in the day she was also pretty avant-garde, with twin wheels, and the ability open the transom up to offer an unfettered space. A cutter rig was deployed. "On the forestay we used the locally made Reefit Furlers by Almasts Australia in Launceston, and then on the inner forestay I had a storm jib or number three attached onto that, but I could go through to my hurricane jib, which was six square metres." As to whether that handkerchief was a good size, Gourlay commented, "Still too big! When you get down to the Southern Ocean, and you've got 70 knots coming through, you do not need six square metres."
As for the motivation to take it on in the first place? "My wife, Wendy, and I thought we'd like to do the cruising route around the globe in our previous boat. We did some sailing in the Pacific, helped deliver a boat from Darwin to Durban, and wondered if we had not done the best already. So, the solo, non-stop, and unassisted lap was spawned from that. We started the process of building Spirit in 2002, and completed her in January 2004."
Don't worry, cruising was not yet done with, for the couple bought a Bavaria 46 in Slovenia and sailed it home in 2010/11. Ken has 135,000nm to his name, and Wendy has amassed 50k herself!
Anyway, the idea was always the lap, the record would be a bonus. "I figured I could take about a month off Tony Mowbray's time, given the issues he encountered along the way. When I got to the halfway mark, yes, I was two weeks in front, and I was very pleased with that, but then I had some issues. The UV rays destroyed the adhesive between the laminates of my sails, and I lost my mainsail and the #3. Also, the swages on the standing rigging. I'll never have them again. I lost two lots of rigging with three out of the 19 strands breaking."
"To get home, I had three Spectra® links between my stays and the deck, and a backup main aloft, which was a lot smaller. I lost nearly all that two-week advantage, and I got home with about a day to spare. It was funny, for people would say, oh, come on, try harder, you're going to get the record, or you're going to miss the record. Psychologically, that was the first thing I was happy to let go. I just really wanted to achieve the trip."
The Iron Pot
Now on November 9, 2025, Tristan Gourlay took off from the famous mark at the mouth of the River Derwent (the line went to the top of Bruny Island and it was ratified by Australian Sailing). He's in a foam core GRP Adam's 16.4 that was built in Victoria in 1989, so yes, another all-Australian affair, with the late Joe Adams' boats holding a lot of favour with the Gourlays (they've had four). Tristan is a little more zeroed in on the record than his Father, but completion remains the primary goal. Like his Dad, Tristan will turn for home once more after rounding St Peter and St Paul Rocks, which lie just over the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, off the elbow of Brazil.
The notion of this Editorial was not to draw direct comparisons, save for one aspect. Comms. During the call with Ken and Wendy, we laughed about a boat coming out when he neared land and flying a paper plane with messages on it to him. This contrasted significantly with WhatsApp and Facebook being the media of choice when it came to speaking with Tristan.
In fairness, it was a bit more advanced than a folded sheet of A4, or two cans with a piece of string between them, but not a lot so. "We had quite a few schools following us on this one email that I sent at noon wherever I was, so it might come through at midnight back at home. On the header was the wind speed and direction, the percentage of cloud cover, the temperature outside, temperature inside, and just a run through what the conditions might be, including the boat speed and that sort of thing. I think there were a lot of classes that were actually plotting it as they got their daily email."
Father and Son bought the Adams 16.4, Blue Moon II, and in 2023 competed in the Melbourne to Devonport race, in 2024 it was the Sydney to Hobart, and then earlier in 2025, the pair completed the 5550nm Melbourne to Osaka double-handed race. This was all preparation for the big lap.
What record?
Son Tristan will be happy to take the record from Father, Ken, for as he says, it still remains in the family. Starting from the Iron Pot is a harbinger for intent, for who wants to deal with the fickle winds of the River Derwent, just to have Ye Olde Hobart Town part of the title on your record.
"I think around 150 days is pretty feasible. The current record is basically an average of 5.2 knots. To get to 150 days, it's about 6.1 knots. At the moment I'm sort of averaging nearly about 7.3 or 7.4 knots, and very much putting the excess in the bank as the Atlantic can be very slow."
Currently, that means 180-200nm is common, and there was a 130nm day about three days into it. "We just, just had a really quiet patch in the middle of the day. It was just under five knots, and there was just too much sea state to do anything. So, I just furled the headsail up, dropped the main down to three reefs, and waited for the Westerly to come in. We bounced around like the proverbial ping pong ball. It is certainly fairly bouncy and rolly down here!"
On that note, Tristan has just briefly popped back up the 50th parallel. "I've been having a taste of it in the Furious Fifties before I have to do it for real at the Horn. I've had a few seals leak in the hatches. They're probably original, and the Southern Ocean does have a way of finding out everything, and putting water into any crack or crevice. I'll tape them up for now, get back South and then free them again once the weather improves when heading North again."
Blue Moon II is a pilothouse vessel, so that's great for comfort, but also a drop centreboarder with a four-and-a-half-foot draft from a long keelson-type arrangement. She does not need it down for stability, only lift and lateral resistance when going to windward. She has a cutter rig with a #2 on the Reefit Furler on the forestay, and then a #3.5 on the baby stay, also on a Reefit Furer. "It just makes it a lot easier just to furl one in, and furl the other one out, and vice versa when you need to change up or down gears. Sleep has been a bit of a challenge in the conditions, so tonight I'll just tuck a few more wraps in the big heady, just make sure I get some sleep."
When we first spoke with Tristan he was East of the International Dateline, and "...getting closer to the middle of nowhere. 10 degrees C and greenies already. That was sort of the first big one that got me. Over the last few nights I've had some fairly strong Northerlies, a good 20 to 30 knots. So beam reaching, and that's been throwing a fair bit of light water across the deck. I've got three reefs in, and down to about half the staysail."
"We picked this boat because they have unreal pedigrees, and we have enjoyed the previous Adams vessels we have had. My last one was an 11.9. They're a good performance boat, and this one's got a few more comforts than the last couple we've had. The wheelhouse is nice. You can sit here and watch the rain hit the windows and stay nice and dry."
Intent
For Tristan, a lap was always going to occur. "Irrespective of Dad's achievements, there would have been something in me still wanting to do it. It has sort of has made it a bit easier as Dad knows everything involved, and knows it's possible. The support from he and Mum has been great. In short, it still would have popped up on the radar. Mum hasn't done much sailing lately, but it doesn't take much to twist Dad's arm and get him back out. I didn't have to hesitate when it came time to do the delivery down to Hobart ahead of this trip."
"That's especially so when it involves a bit of fresh fish or something like that. I don't think he's too keen anymore on the big long hauls like this one."
"For now, I'm out here and having a bit of a crack at it. I'm sort of pushing a little bit when I feel it's safe to do so. I'm getting a feel of the conditions and what it's like down here in the deep Southern Ocean, and sort of am leaning towards constantly trying to keep the push on."
"The ultimate goal is to finish, and I do need to keep the girl rolling. Right now it is about feeling out that sort of line of where it's safe, and then where I'm taking too many risks and need to slap myself back down. Blue Moon II is quite good. She'll get a big wave, and you feel it as she slides sideways with the wave. It just takes a lot of effort out of everything. Whereas with a big keel, it will want to want to heel right over, and then sort of trip over her own keel. We just slide a bit, and then she just keeps going. It actually does make her feel a little bit more comfortable at times, and it is a bit easier on the gear, as well."
Blue Moon II had a 600mm sugar scoop added when they bought her, and it also has a box that houses the liferaft, clearing up the all-important deck space a bit more, as well as protecting the raft from excessive spray. Tender access is also a lot easier in this way.
Tristan is a rigger by trade, and Blue Moon II's Dyform standing rigging is mechanically attached, no swages here. Additionally, there is wire on board the same length as the forestay, should bad things happen. There are also spares for the spares, and something like six months of food on board. Tristan has a special friend at home, but is the first to admit that the draw of the sea is #1. On his return, liveaboard cats may get an opportunity, as "...the old cats certainly do love the fish!"
So too does Tristan. About 10 days into it, he caught a butterfly mackerel. The modern tuna these days have evolved on from this sort of style of fish, but this butterfly mackerel just hasn't really evolved much. It was pretty cool to catch one of those. I've heard about them, but never seen one until the other day when I swung it into the cockpit.
We last spoke with Tristan on Saturday, and his position was 46:37 degrees South and 130.00 degrees West. 3500nm from home (Iron Pot), 2500nm to the Horn, 300nm West of Point Nemo (i.e. Middle of Nowhere).
If you'd like to keep a weather eye on Tristan, please see his Facebook page.
Thanks for tuning into Sail-World.com
John Curnow
Sail-World.com AUS Editor