Captain Tomas Cichoki, 57, departed Brest, in France, on the 6th September 2014 in a Delphia 47, sailing single handed and non stop around the world, following the clipper route down the Atlantic, around the Cape of Good Hope, then across the Indian and Southern Oceans, underneath Australia and New Zealand and then tackling the notorious Cape Horn, before the uphill run back up the Atlantic to finish this journey in Brest. It is estimated that the voyage will take approximately 260 days.
An adventurous soul, Tom had sailed single handed across the Atlantic, from Europe to Florida, in 2007, in a 22ft yacht with no motor, and the only communication a vhf transmitter. He undertook a single handed solo around the world run in 2011/2012 in a Delphia 40, but unfortunately did not achieve the “non stop” after hitting a semi submerged object, suspected to be a container, about 1000nm east of South Africa. The impact threw Tom across the cockpit and knocked him out, cracked a rib, and damaged the steering on the boat. Tom managed after hours of work to get about 15% steering, but he reluctantly turned back to Port Elizabeth and got medical treatment and the boat hauled out and steering repaired. He was rolled near Cape Horn, losing a headsail and the blades off his wind generater, but sailed home safely with no further incidents.
He really is determined to do this voyage “non stop” and Tom has our best wishes for a speedy and safe voyage.
The boat is not far removed from the standard production boat, some differences being twin rudders, borrowed from the centreboard version, enlarged fuel and water tanks, and (sadly) that luxurious forward cabin has
been converted into a workshop for Tom, and the mast has been cutter rigged.
Tom is very fortunate to have not only the support of Delphia Yachts, but Indykpol and others. Indykpol are growers and processors of poultry, turkey's and geese, and employ more than 1500 people in Poland, supplying the local domestic Polish market, and other EU countries, an important contributer to Polands economy, as are Delphia Yachts, being Polands largest manufacture of both sailing and powercraft, as well as contract building for other manufacturers. Delphia acquired Maxi Yachts, in Sweden, in 2012 and are now manufacturing these very highly regarded yachts, recently releasing a new 13m version that looks outstanding.
I do have quite a few more photos available if anyone wants them, just ask, and there is, for anyone interested, a tracking map on www.kapitancichoki.pl which will be updated every few dates showing Tom's position and lat/long.
– Allan McDermott
