HIR 3 across 3 OCEANS

Can an amateur crew take a vintage 34ft sailboat on her 2nd journey around the world?

Across 3 oceans and around 3 Capes in a year or two? Can it be done, really?

Impossible is nothing.

We couldn’t wait. There was an innate urge to go now, while still young and hungry for adventure. We wanted to sail to the end of the world, round the Cape Horn and taste the cold beer in Puerto Williams, at the coolest YC in the world.

Go small, go now.

Lin & Larry Pardey

Following the advice of the famous cruising couple, Lin and Larry Pardey, we found a small seaworthy boat that could takes us places now.

HIR 3 is a vintage 34 ft sloop, launched in 1980 by a famous Croatian sailor, Mladen Šutej. She has proven seaworthy as under his command she crossed the Atlantic twice in 1983 and circumnavigated the world in 1987-1989. HIR 3 has proven resilience surviving the severe damage in 1991 bombing of Dubrovnik and, later on, refusing to go under despite being neglected for over 10 years. Therefore we were confident she is a strong boat that will take care of us, once we take proper care of her.

Bought in 2014 and restored in 2016, HIR 3 is a sporty recreational vessel, a vintage yacht of spartan comfort for crew. Modern communication and safety equipment have been installed, but otherwise it is as mechanical and basic as it can be.

More about the boat…

… there are 3 essential ingredients to good crew: attitude, attitude and attitude.

Dennis Conner, America’s Cup

A crew for the round-the-world voyage is difficult to find, as most people cannot take more than few weeks away from work and family. We split the journey into legs and invited friends and sailing enthusiasts to join accordingly. Previous experience was not important, but the attitude and goodwill were essential. The only condition to become crew was to show up during 2017 season to sail for a few days aboard HIR 3.

Initially over 100 people applied, only a dozen showed up for trial sail and eventually a total of 9 people sailed aboard HIR 3 during this circumnavigation. Meet our crew.

Be fearless. Have the courage to take risks. Go where there are no guarantees. Get out of your comfort zone even if it means being uncomfortable. The road less traveled is sometimes fraught with barricades, bumps and uncharted terrain. But it is on that road where your character is truly tested. Have the courage to accept that you’re not perfect — nothing is and no one is — and that’s OK.

Katie Couric

The common route to circumnavigate the world is East to West, from Europe via the Caribbean and Panama canal, across the Pacific and Polynesia, north of Australia and across the Indian Ocean, round the Cape of Good Hope and back to Europe. It is most appealing to amateur crews as it runs through tropics and subtropics most of the time, following the trade winds through the warm seas. Our route was just the opposite.

We chose the challenging West to East route, rarely sailed by recreational sailors. This is the route sailed by hardcore professionals in toughest sailing competitions like Volvo Ocean Race, Vendée Globe and Golden Globe. This ‘road less travelled’ takes you from Europe deep into the cold Southern Ocean to sail around 3 Great Capes – Cape of Good Hope in Africa, Cape Leeuwin in Australia and the MtEverest of sailing, Cape Horn in South America. It is the ultimate challenge, both for the boat and the crew, to survive the harsh conditions of Southern Ocean and make it around three Great Capes in one go.

Originally we envisioned it would take 14 months to complete the circumnavigation. Eventually, it took twice as long, but we made it! We have successfully sailed around the world West to East with a 40 year old boat and a crew of two for most of the journey.

Read more about our journey, check the photo galleries and videos from the cool places we visited on our Patreon.

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