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 17, 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 an attempted second circumnavigational voyage, this time with several friends.
Martin wrote and directed the 2022 documentary ''The Voyage of Madmen'', about the 2018 recreation of the first around-the-world solo yacht race.
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.
See also
*
List of youth solo sailing circumnavigations
References
External links
BBC news article on Jesse Martin*
IMDB entry for ''Lionheart: The Jesse Martin Story''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 Medal of the Order of Australia
Teenage single-handed circumnavigating sailors
Single-handed circumnavigating sailors