Alex Whitworth (born 22 April 1942 in Malta) is best known as an Australian sailor . Between 2005 and 2010 he sailed double handed twice around the world in '' Berrimilla II'', a ''Brolga''-class 33 ft sailing boat. The first

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...

was around

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

from Sydney to England and back around Africa, during which he communicated with Astronaut Dr.

Leroy Chiao Leroy Chiao (born August 28, 1960) is an American chemical engineer, retired NASA astronaut, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and engineering consultant. Chiao flew on three Space Shuttle flights, and was the commander of Expedition 10, where ...

, the commander of

Expedition 10 Expedition 10 (2004–2005) was the tenth expedition to the International Space Station, using the Soyuz TMA-5, which stayed during the expedition for emergency evacuation. Crew Mission parameters *Perigee: 384 km *Apogee: 396 k ...

on the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

. The second, via the

North West Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...

, evolved from Whitworth’s contact with the Space Station and a later meeting with Dr.

Pascal Lee Pascal Lee (; born 1964) is co-founder and chairman of the Mars Institute, a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, and the Principal Investigator of the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. H ...

who runs

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

’s Haughton Mars Camp on

Devon Island Devon Island ( iu, ᑕᓪᓗᕈᑎᑦ, ) is an island in Canada and the largest uninhabited island (no permanent residents) in the world. It is located in Baffin Bay, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the largest members of the Ar ...

. Dr. Lee invited Whitworth to rendezvous at the Camp for the total solar eclipse of 1 August 2008. '' Berrimilla II'' started and finished the first circumnavigation with a Sydney – Hobart race and sailed double handed in the Fastnet Race on both. Whitworth posted daily logs on his website which were followed widely by people around the world and reposted or reported on other websites and in the press. '' Berrimilla IIs co-skipper for the first circumnavigation and the return half of the second was Peter Crozier. Corrie McQueen sailed the Pacific leg of the second and was joined by Kimbra Lindus from Dutch Harbour to Falmouth. As far as it is possible to ascertain, amongst other achievements '' Berrimilla II'' was the first vessel ever to sail from Australia to England via the

and the first to circumnavigate via the

under sail. Whitworth received several awards for these voyages, including, in 2009, the

Ocean Cruising Club The Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) is an international club for cruisers. Members are identified by a distinctive blue and yellow burgee with a stylized Flying Fish on the blue part of the flag. Founded in 1954 by the late Humphrey Barton Humphr ...

Barton Cup and, in 2010, the

Cruising Club of America The Cruising Club of America (CCA) is an international organization of cruisers whose objects are to promote cruising and racing by amateurs, to encourage the development of suitable types of cruising craft, to stimulate interest in seamanship, navi ...

's Blue Water Medal for a circumnavigation of the world via the North West Passage West to East. When not at sea Whitworth teaches safety and sea survival to offshore sailors. During his professional career, he worked both in the Public Service and in private industry. He is a Fellow of the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...

. He has run about 30

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

s, including Stanley Marathon in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

during the first circumnavigation. His best time was 2hr 41min. in 1985.

References

External links

Voyage website Profile interview by Cyril Latimer, RANSA Newsletter, May 2009, pp. 17–24
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitworth, Alex Australian sailors Blue Water Medal recipients 1942 births Living people Royal Navy personnel Immigrants to Australia