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Fedor Konyukhov Sets off on New Solo Voyage Across Southern Ocean

Fedor Konyukhov Sets off on New Solo Voyage Across Southern Ocean Fedor Konyukhov Sets off on New Solo Voyage Across Southern Ocean

On December 5, 2024, Fedor Konyukhov's unprecedented expedition in the Southern Ocean began. This time, the famous Russian traveler is going to go alone on the rowing boat "AKROS" from Cape Horn (Chile) to Cape Leeuwin (Australia). The distance will be over 15,000 km.

At 5:30 a.m., Konyukhov's vessel set off from the Drake Passage, separating South America and Antarctica. A one-person crossing of two oceans – the Atlantic and the Indian – will take, according to preliminary calculations, more than 200 days. On the way, the latitudes of the "roaring forties" and "furious fifties" are waiting for Konyukhov. As the expedition headquarters emphasized, no one living on earth has ever traveled such a route on a rowing boat.

The current expedition is the second stage of Fedor Konyukhov's global, in the literal sense, project.

The previous one began on December 6, 2018, and ended on May 9, 2019. Then Konyukhov on the same boat "AKROS" made the first ever crossing in the South Pacific Ocean from New Zealand (port Dunedin) to Cape Horn. Previously, five attempts were recorded to travel this route on a rowing boat. Several brave rowers set off from Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Falkland Islands over the years. All attempts ended unsuccessfully.

Fedor Filippovich then managed to cover the entire distance on the first attempt. The expedition lasted 154 days, 13 hours, and 37 minutes. 11,525 km (6,402 nautical miles) were traversed according to the log. Until that moment, it was believed that this was practically beyond the power of man.

Fedor Konyukhov with members of the expedition staff on an escort yacht. Photo: Oskar Konyukhov

Fedor Konyukhov with members of the expedition staff on an escort yacht. Photo: Oskar Konyukhov

Fedor Konyukhov with members of the expedition staff on an escort yacht. Photo: Oskar Konyukhov

During the previous stage, Fedor Filippovich set several world records at once.

1. He became the oldest single rower. Recall that he was 67 years old at the time.

2. Reached the southernmost point on a rowing boat – 56’40 ° s. w.

3. Spent the largest number of days in the Southern Ocean without going ashore – 154 (the previous record belonged to Frenchman Joseph Le Guen – 59 days).

4. Covered the longest distance in the latitudes of the "roaring forties" and "furious fifties" – 11,525 km.

5. Became the first and so far the only person who was able to cross the Pacific Ocean alone in both directions (from east to west in 2014 and from west to east in 2019).

Obviously, if successful, the world is waiting for another handful of records set by our compatriot.

The new expedition will be even longer and will probably take place in more severe conditions. For example, due to adverse weather, Konyukhov had to postpone the start of the expedition for several days and wait for the weather just to enter the Drake Passage from the base in the Argentine port of Ushuaia.

View of the bay of Harberton (Tierra del Fuego), where Fedor Konyukhov and members of his staff waited out the inclement weather in the Drake Passage. Photo: Oskar Konyukhov

View of the bay of Harberton (Tierra del Fuego), where Fedor Konyukhov and members of his staff waited out the inclement weather in the Drake Passage. Photo: Oskar Konyukhov

The voyage will take place on the “AKROS” rowing boat, the hull of which is made of carbon fiber. It is already familiar to us and has proven itself well. Before the new launch, it underwent a small upgrade at the shipyard in the UAE. Details are not reported. It is known that just before the start of the new voyage, Fedor Konyukhov tested a new satellite communication system, which will even allow him to share photos.

The port of the finish is Albany. This is a place Konyukhov knows well: from here, in 2009, he went on a solo voyage around Antarctica on the yacht “Scarlet Sails”.

Strictly speaking, the new expedition had started a few days earlier. On November 25, the coastal stage of boat preparation in the Argentine port of Ushuaia was completed and the “AKROS” was launched. Since that day, Fedor Filippovich already spent the night on the boat, testing on-board systems and setting up for a long voyage.

On the last day of November, a specially hired yacht began towing Konyukhov's boat from the Beagle Channel. However, the journey to the Drake Passage, to the latitude where the traveler completed his passage last time (56 ° S), was somewhat delayed due to bad weather.

It was planned to enter the main route on December 2, but in this case, the very next day the traveler would have gotten into a fairly strong storm, and with a headwind. On Wednesday, the wind gradually began to subside. The necessary weather "window" appeared. Next, the forecast is promising a couple of days of good weather, and on December 6, the wind will subside to 5 knots (about 2.5 m/s). Ideal conditions for the start.

According to the expedition headquarters, the traveler feels fine, all devices are working normally, the boat is moving smoothly across the waves. The Russian Geographical Society, of which Fedor Konyukhov is an honorary member, wishes him good luck, we will follow the vicissitudes of the voyage.

Talking to fans in September, before hiking along the route of ethnographer and writer Vladimir Arsenyev in the Far East, Fedor Konyukhov said that he hoped this would be his last expedition – exactly one week later, on December 12, he will turn 73. However, knowing the nature of the traveler, it is hard to believe. Moreover, strictly speaking, even after the completion of the current stage of the expedition in the port of Albany, Fedor Filippovich will have a small "debt", because in 2018 he started not in Australia but in New Zealand. Therefore, in order to close the circle, it will be necessary to overcome about 3,000 more nautical miles.

Aivar Valeev