HONOR ROLL
First one around in the North Sea tradition of carrying accommodations below deck. Kasemier was in a hurry, as he wanted to circumnavigate in 200 days or less, so he often ran into snotty weather and head seas. He averaged close to 7 knots and his tour took 198 days, 23 hours and 30 minutes. Fuel burn was about 1.5 gallons per hour. His longest passage was a 20-day run from Acapulco to Honolulu.
Photos: Lester McCarthy of Motorboat and Yachting/IPC Syndication
T
he first person to circumnavigate the world in a trawler yacht was Eilco Kasemier of Holland, a retired hotel owner who took Bylgia II around in 1983-84. There were no production passagemakers on the market then, so Kasemier, after he completed a circumnavigation under sail, turned to Dutch naval architect Dick Koopmans for a custom design in aluminum. The resulting 39-footer was designed to be self-righting, but that feature was never tested during the east-to-west circumnavigation out of Plymouth, England. Bylgia II was powered by a fourcylinder Perkins 236 and carried 942 gallons of diesel fuel. Although custom, Bylgia II was a fairly normal trawler yacht, albeit
Long ocean passages Kasemier tackled singlehanded while carrying one crew the rest of the voyage, that crew changing from leg to leg. Kasemier’s circumnavigation stands as the quickest by a recreational powerboat operated by its owner, and the smallest such yacht to go around. The Nordhavn 40 that circumnavigated in 2001-02 was 8.5 inches longer yet stands as the smallest production powerboat to go around. C
Eilco Kasemier was the first to circumnavigate in a trawler yacht. Two days after Bylgia II (foreground) completed her voyage in Plymouth, England, David Scott Cowper departed with Mabel E. Holland (rafted outside) on what would be the first singlehanded circumnavigation under power.
Circumnavigators Under Power The list of private motor yachts that have voyaged around the world is still short, but likely to grow rapidly over the next few years as more and more trawler couples graduate from coastal cruising. Name
Country
Name of vessel Make or type
LOA
Dates
Notes
Albert Gowen
U.S.
Speejacks
Custom
98'
1921-1922
First yacht without sails to circumnavigate East to West
Don & Ann Gumpertz
U.S.
Westward
Custom
86'
1970-1976
First yacht without sails to circumnavigate West to East
Eilco Kasemier
Holland
Bylgia II
Custom
39' 1/2" 1983-1984
David Scott Cowper
England
Mabel E. Holland Converted lifeboat 42'
1984-1985
First trawler yacht to circumnavigate, and still the smallest First singlehanded circumnavigation under power
David Scott Cowper
England
Mabel E. Holland Converted lifeboat 42'
1986-1990
Singlehanded circumnavigation via the Northwest Passage
Bruce & Joan Kessler
U.S.
Zopilote
1990-1993
First U.S. trawler yacht to circumnavigate
Delta 70
70'
Jim & Susy Sink
U.S.
Salvation II
Nordhavn 46
45' 9"
1990-1995
First production trawler yacht to circumnavigate
Ghanim Al-Othman
Kuwait
Othmani
Nordhavn 46
45" 9"
1998-1999
First Arab trawler yacht to circumnavigate
Jim Leishman et al
U.S.
Nordhavn
Nordhavn 40
39' 9"
2001-2002
Smallest production trawler yacht to circumnavigate
Heidi & Wolfgang Hass
Germany
Kanaloa
Nordhavn 46
45' 9"
1996-2002
First German trawler yacht to circumnavigate
Other noteworthy circumnavigations under power: • Ben Carlin in Half-Safe, an amphibious Jeep • Bryan Peterson of the U.S. in Sunrider, a modified Zodiac 24 • Jock Wishart in Cable & Wireless Adventurer, a custom 115-foot trimaran
52 · CIRCUMNAVIGATOR 2003
Most miles voyaged without completing a circumnavigation: • Michael Poliza in Starship, a Northern Marine 75, who covered 75,000 miles in 1,009 days at sea during a voyage from Anacortes, Washington, to Hamburg in his native Germany