Who's your favorite greatest??

[Giulietta]

Here is something I allways wondered..

Who is your favorite greatest sailor ever???

The World is full of GREAT SAILORS...but few are favorites or trully GREAT...

Names like Vasco da Gama, Couts, Tabarly, McArthur, Blake...etc.. come to mind.

Please tell us who are your favorites all time greatest, and why...don't just post a name..tell us why...that is the objective..

I have two all times "heroes" of sailing:

Vasco da Gama, (see here) not so much for the fact he sailed long distances, and found "new Worlds" or the route to India...but because of the spirit of going further, of pushing the envelope..the endeavour spirit, in times where technology and darkness where inversely proportinal....where man relied on man to do stuff....the sound barrier breakers of the 1400's...




Eric Tabarly, ( see here) when I was a kid, I used to share my reading between Super Man and Spider Man comics, and old French Voile magazines, whose pages were so worn out from turning and reading, they almost vanished, these magazines were filled with the feats (the real ones) of Eric Tabarly, the races he won, the oceans he crossed, mostly alone.......I used to go to bed, at night..dreaming about crossing the ocean...racing boats...be the best.....he defenetely marked my youth and my life....I wanted to be Tabarly....

See here in French

Died in 1998, hit by his boom see here


who are yours??? and why??? We can all learn from your greatest, and what they did....

[chucklesR]

Earnest Shackleton.
Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition | American Museum of Natural History

No one has done so much with so little.
[Quote]
After camping on the ice for five months, Shackleton made two open boat journeys, one of which—a treacherous 800-mile ocean crossing to South Georgia Island—is now considered one of the greatest boat journeys in history. Trekking across the mountains of South Georgia, Shackleton reached the island's remote whaling station, organized a rescue team, and saved all of the men he had left behind.
/[quote]

[sailhog]

I want to claim Magellan before anyone else does.
First to circumnavigate (although I think he died before his ship made it all the way around); I think he also named the Pacific Ocean...

[T34C]

OK, I gotta go old school, reaaaal old school.

Brendan of Clonfert - Believed to have sailed from Ireland to the Americas in the 6th century in a boat made with an ox hide hull. A truely amazing feat. It was recently duplicated using existing materials of the time to replicate the boat and the voyage.

Brendan was an Irish monk. He is now refered to as St. Brendan the Navigator.
The Mariners' Museum | EXPLORATION through the AGES

Dennis Conner - When I was younger my first introductions to sailing were of watching the AC. In that time the event was dominated by DC.

Olin Stevens - The greatest navel architech in modern history. More importantly to me is his pure love and dedication to the sport and to sailboats in general. His accomplishments go with out saying.

[djodenda]

Joshua Slocum:

First solo circumnavigator. Truly a man of the sea.

Joshua Slocum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Captain Joshua Slocum the first man to sail around the world alone. Tell us if you are going sailing around the world

[Giulietta]

It doesn't hurt to put a link or two so we can all read and see...please...add more to what you writte, it keeps the thread going longer..please

[ronsunni]

No contest. Captain Ron

[sailortjk1]

I like all those listed above.
Shackleton's story is amazing.
Slocum was a little crazy, but he was the first.

I would like to add
Emma Richards.
(Don't know what her new married name is.)
I think she is a lot cuter than Ellen.

Another is George Pollard Jr. of the Whaleship Essex.
Although he may not have been the best Captain, his open water small boat story of survival ranks up there with Shackleton's.
If you don't know the story, his whale boat was sunk by a sperm whale in the South Pacific Ocean and his men took to the long boats to survive. criticised for not being sound in his judgement and often let the First Mate make many of the decisions regrding the handeling of the ship. The survival of some of his crew was only able do to the resort of cannibalism.

Another is Owen Chase. First Mate of the Whaleship Essex.

[TrueBlue]

There are, and were, so many sailors that made an impression on me, especially during history classes early in my elementary school years. I have to place Joshua Slocum high on the list however, since his books had fascinated me at a young age, inspiring me to dream of adventures at sea.

Another lesser known sailor who influenced my desire to sail, was the anthropologist and explorer, Thor Heyerdahl. My dad had a copy of his book - Kon Tiki, on his library shelf, which I had read many times as a child. Among Heyerdahl's many sailing expeditions was one ventured from Peru to the Tuamotu Islands on a balsa raft, designed and built to replicate a vessel he thought early Polynesian explorers may have used in an east to west migration in the South Pacific.

After 101 days and 4,300 miles at sea, he and crew made a successful landfall and all returned safely. Not the greatest adventurer, by any means, but one of my personal favorites, who left fond memories from my youth.

[BigAssHam]

Popeye!

1) He was strong to the finish 'cuz he ate all his spinach.

2) He always kicked ass on Bluto

3) He always got Olive Oil in the end. Now, what true sailor wouldn't want a girl like Olive Oil in every port?