Joanna "Asia" Pajkowska (born 13 July 1958 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland) is a Polish

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 ...

, with a rank of captain, a sea life guard, she sailed over 250,000 nautical miles, often in singlehanded or in two-handed races. She is one of the best-known sailors in Poland and one of the most experienced ocean sailors in the world. In 2018 she completed, as the first Polish female sailor, singlehanded non-stop circumnavigation.

Achievements

Between 1995 and 2002, when living in England, she worked as a member of the sea rescue team on board the Salcombe Lifeboat ship, of the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

(RNLI), being one of the very few women members of this British sea rescue organization. She took part in several sea rescue operations. In years 1995, 1997, 1999 she took part in the Fastnet Race. When living in UK she did club races and cruises across English Channel and Irish Sea. Three times she sailed in the two-handed transatlantic races: in 1986 in the '' Two-Star'' from

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

in England to

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

in the US on the

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 ...

''Alamatur III'' and in 2001 in the race Transat Jacques Vabre from

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

to Brasil, on board the 50 ft ''Olympian Challenger'', and in TWOSTAR 2017, from

in England to

onboard s/y Rote 66 (Class 40), together with German sailor Uwe Röttgering; they won the race in the two-handed category. In 2000, on the 40-foot yacht ''Ntombifuti'' she finished fourth in the class (in the field of 24 competitors) in the singlehanded transatlantic race ''

OSTAR The Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (STAR) is an east-to-west yacht racing, yacht race across the North Atlantic. When inaugurated in 1960, it was the first single-handed sailing, single-handed ocean yacht race; it is run from Plymouth in En ...

'', from Plymouth (UK) to Newport (US). For her standing in the race she received the Honour Trophy of the

Polish Yachting Association The Polish Yachting Association ( pl, Polski Związek Żeglarski) is the national governing body for the sport of sailing in Poland, recognised by the International Sailing Federation. In 1969 along with Les Glénans - France, Yacht Club de Morg ...

(Polski Związek Żeglarski) in the category of the ''Race of the Year 2000''. She took part in many multi-member team transatlantic races, including a female only crew on the 60-foot S/Y ''Alphagraphics'' in 2001 in the EDS Atlantic Challenge regatta, on course

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

–

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

–

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

–

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

–

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

– Saint-Malo. In December 2002 and January 2003, on board S/Y ''Zjawa IV'', she sailed three times 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 ...

and reached the South Shetland archipelago at

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

. In the period between October 2006 and February 2007, in the two-member female only race around the world, on board the 28-foot boat ''Mantra Asia'', she sailed halfway around the world (from Darwin in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, across the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and further across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

to Salvador de Bahia in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and she won her stage of the race.

Single-handed sail

On 8 January 2009, Joanna Pajkowska completed in

Colón, Panama Colón () is a city and seaport in Panama, beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city. Originally it was l ...

her solo trip almost around the world with one stop (in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

). She did her trip on board the sailboat ''Mantra ASIA'' (model Mantra 28), with the LOA of 8.5 m, beam of 2.7 m and draft of 1.65 m. The boat has the displacement of 3.5 tons and 60 sqm of the sail surface. She was designed by Andrzej Armiński and built in his dockyard in

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

, Poland. Andrzej Armiński was also the main organizer and the sponsor of the event. The route was westward from

Balboa, Panama Balboa is a district of Panama City, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. History The town of Balboa, founded by the United States during the construction of the Panama Canal, was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the Spani ...

, across Pacific Ocean, through Torres Strait, across Indian Ocean, around

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

and across

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, and the estimated distance is 25,000 nautical miles. The trip lasted 198 days. For her trip Cpt. Pajkowska was awarded by the

(Polski Związek Żeglarski) Honorary Badge of Merit for Polish Sailing, and won the First Prize and "Silver Sextant" in the Rejs Roku (Sail Trip of the Year) competition. She was also awarded with the CONRAD International Award by the Baltic Shores Brotherhood (Bałtyckie Bractwo Wybrzeża). In 2010-2011, on board the same boat Mantra ASIA, this time together with her husband Cpt. Aleksander Nebelski she did another trip from Florida, through the Panama Canal, across the Pacific Ocean, Australia, Indonesia, South-East Asia, across the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, sailing over 22,000 nm in almost a year and a half. For the third time she received the Honour Trophy in the Rejs Roku (Sailor of the Year) competition. In 2012, she sailed in Svalbard Archipelago.

Ostar again

In 2013, again she took part in the OSTAR Race, this time on board a 40 ft catamaran Cabrio 2, and she finished 1st Lady. In the same year on board the same catamaran she crossed the Atlantic Ocean four times, apart from the OSTAR Race, two-handed or with a crew of 3. For this achievement she received the Second Prize in the Rejs Roku (Sailor of the Year) competition. Cpt. Pajkowska for several years now keeps taking part in singlehanded and two-handed races on the Baltic Sea (Polonez Cup, from Szczecin around the Christiansoe Island., and Battle of Gotland Cup, from Gdansk around Gotland Island). She often sails around the Baltic Sea and the North Sea with a base in Poland. Frequently she sails as a mate on board STS Pogoria, taking part in an Education Under Sails STA program for young people; she also does yacht deliveries, as well as a charter skipper.

Transatlantic race again

In 2017, for the third time, Pajkowska took part in the OSTAR/TWOSTAR transatlantic race, from Plymouth, England to Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. This time, together with German sailor Uwe Röttgering, they took part in the two-handed TWOSTAR category. They started on board the 40-foot boat Rote 66, and they won in the two-handed category, in 20 days, 22 hours and 43 minutes. During that year race sailors experienced extreme weather conditions, including a storm with 60kns wind and 15-meters waves; as a result, out of 21 yachts that started from Plymouth, the finish line was reached by only seven boats (four boats had sunk). For this achievement for the second time she received the First Prize and Silver Sextant the most prestigious in the Polish sailing community award, in the Rejs Roku (Sailor of the Year) competition.

Solo non-stop around the world

On 28 May 2019, Pajkowska completed solo, not assisted, and non-stop circumnavigation, onboard an aluminium boat s/y Fanfan (40 ft). She started from Plymouth on 23 September 2018. The route included traversing Cape of Good Hope,

Cape Leeuwin Cape Leeuwin is the most south-westerly (but not most southerly) mainland point of the Australian continent, in the state of Western Australia. Description A few small islands and rocks, the St Alouarn Islands, extend further in Flinders Ba ...

and Cape Horn, and finish back in Plymouth. The trip took 216 days and 16 hours, and she sailed 29 000 nm. Pajkowska is the first and only Polish female sailor to complete such a trip. For her solo 360 nonstop circumnavigation, Pajkowska was awarded for the third time the First Prize and Silver Sextant, in the Rejs Roku (Sailor of the Year) competition. She is the only Polish yachtperson who received this precious award three times. For this outstanding achievement she was also awarded the Trans-Ocean Prize, the most prestigious German sailing award.

References

External links

Joanna Pajkowska - Polish Sailing Encyclopedia
(pl.)

Twój Styl 04/2009

Kobiece rejsy dookoła świata

interview with Joanna Pajkowska

Rejs Roku
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pajkowska, Joanna 1958 births Living people Polish female sailors (sport) Sportspeople from Warsaw