Jesse Martin, OAM (born 26 August 1981) is a German-Australian

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

who in 1999 became the youngest person to

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

the globe solo, non-stop, and unassisted, Martin's journey in the

S&S 34 S&S 34 is a cruising and racing fibreglass monohull sailboat class. It was based on a design by Olin Stephens from Sparkman and Stephens after a commission from British yachtsman Michael Winfield. The design features a skeg-hung rudder and a ...

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

''Lionheart-Mistral'' took approximately 11 months. He chronicled his adventures in the book ''Lionheart: A Journey of the Human Spirit'', and his story was made into a documentary, ''Lionheart: The Jesse Martin Story''.

''Lionheart'' voyage

At 16, Martin departed

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

for a world voyage on his yacht, ''Lionheart''. He arrived back in Melbourne on 31 October 1999 and sailed into the record books at age 18. The entire journey covered 328 days and in all. Since Martin's voyage, the

World Sailing Speed Record Council The World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) was founded in 1972, initially to ratify records at the inaugural Weymouth Speed Week held every year since in Portland Harbor.The WSSRC is the body authorized by the World Sailing (formerly Internati ...

(WSSRC) have discontinued the "youngest" category and no longer recognise "human condition" records. Martin remains the youngest solo non-stop unassisted sailor to cross opposite points of the globe in a single round the world voyage. His voyage inspired other young sailors, including

Jessica Watson Jessica Watson (born 18 May 1993) is an Australian sailor who was awarded the Order of Australia Medal after attempting a solo global circumnavigation at the age of 16. Departing Sydney on 18 October 2009, Watson headed north-east, crossing the ...

, to attempt similar circumnavigations. The voyage was sponsored by Mistral, the Melbourne newspaper the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

'', the

Sandringham Yacht Club Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

, REV milk and Autohelm. Mistral was the major sponsor, donating over A$300,000 on the conditions that the name was placed on the sail, prominently and repeatedly on the boat, on the bottom of Martin's weekly newspaper column, and on Martin's clothing. Prior to the ''Lionheart'' voyage Martin, along with his father and brother, completed a 1,000 km journey along the

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

coast in a 14-foot Caper Cat, one of the longest attempted in a

catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

of its size. In an interview following the trip, Martin stated that the journey made the idea of sailing around the world seem possible.

Post ''Lionheart'' activities

Martin lives in Melbourne, Australia and has started a media production company, as well as a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

sailing adventure charter business. In 2005, he released a follow-up book entitled ''Kijana: The Real Story''. In January 2009 Martin walked away uninjured after crashing his car into a train at a railway level crossing at

McKinnon railway station McKinnon railway station is located on the Frankston line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of McKinnon, and it opened on 1 September 1884 as McKinnon Road. It was renamed McKinnon on 14 December 1885. Histo ...

in Melbourne. In 2010 Martin shared producing and directing credits for ''5 Lost at Sea'', a film documenting his attempted inspirational voyage with several friends.

Awards

Martin was the Australian Yachting Federation's Youth Sailor of the Year for the year 1999–2000 and the Young

Victorian of the Year The Victorian of the Year is an award given to the most outstanding Victorian in any given year. The Victorian of the Year is awarded in Melbourne by the Victoria Day Council as part of Victoria Day celebrations on 1 July annually. The Victoria ...

in 2000. He was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

in 2001 and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2002.

References

External links

BBC news article on Jesse Martin
*
IMDB entry for ''Lionheart: The Jesse Martin Story''

Imajica Media/Imajica Experience website

Jesse Martin - Inspirational Speaker - Adventurer - Sailor - Lionheart
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Jesse 1981 births Living people Australian sailors Australian travel writers People educated at Wesley College (Victoria) Recipients of the Centenary Medal Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Teenage single-handed circumnavigating sailors Single-handed circumnavigating sailors

''Lionheart'' voyage

Post ''Lionheart'' activities

Awards

See also

References

External links