Global Solo Challenge: Welsh skipper Dafydd Hughes has completed Phase I of his campaign
by Margherita Pelaschier 9 Apr 2023 07:06 BST
Welsh sailor Dafydd Hughes looks forward to the Global Solo Challenge © GSC
In October 2022, Welsh sailor Dafydd Hughes completed Phase I of his GSC campaign, which consisted of 20 months of planning, designing, and refitting Bendigedig, his boat, a S&S 34 that had spent the last 13 years sitting in a dry barn.
Once in the water, it performed exceptionally well. Since launching, Hughes has sailed more than 3,500 nautical miles in various weather conditions, including some challenging ones. Hughes is now in Phase II of his campaign, with a lengthy to-do list that needs to be completed to prepare both himself and Bendigedig for the starting line of the Global Solo Challenge in A Coruña on August 26.
As Sir Robin Knox Johnston once said to him, "getting your boat ready, funded, and fully prepared is far harder than the actual sailing part," which of course will be Phase III.
With just five months to go until the first start in A Coruña, we are providing an update on the GSC skippers' progress based on their blog posts.