Neal Petersen is a South African solo racing yachtsman, award-winning author of ''Journey of a Hope Merchant'', and the subject of a

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

documentary. Petersen completed a nine month single-handed yacht race around the world alone in a small yacht, which he designed and built himself. "He became the first black sailor to race solo around the world."

Books

He has published two books: ''No Barriers'' was published in 1994. His second book, ''Journey of a Hope Merchant: From Apartheid to the Elite World of Solo Yacht Racing'', was published in 2004. Both books describe his yachting career, with ''No Barriers'' concentrating on his first journey from South Africa to Europe. ''Journey of a Hope Merchant'' won the 2005

National Outdoor Book Award The National Outdoor Book Award (NOBA) was formed in 1997 as an American-based non-profit program which each year presents awards honoring the best in outdoor writing and publishing. It is housed at Idaho State University and chaired by Ron Watte ...

(History/Biography category).

Personal life

Petersen was born physically disabled and impoverished in

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

-era South Africa, and learnt to sail in the waters around Cape Town.

References

External links

Neal Petersen Speaker's website

Neal Petersen adventure website
1967 births Living people South African motivational speakers Alumni of Livingstone High School {{SouthAfrica-bio-stub