Top Ten Most Inspirational Sailors

[ADMPRTR]

Originally Posted by Factor

Ahem - no one needed to discover the americas - they weren't lost, had people living there and everything. Thats like saying Cook discovered Australia. He was in fact about 40,000 years too late.

Okay, I stand corrected. How about Leif Ericson found his way to NA 500 years before Columbus?

[tamicatana]

I'll second Mau Piailug, RIP.

All those Polynesians who never are credited for their marine achievements. The Polynesians had sprit rigs (and multihulls) and sailed to weather for thousands of years (as did the Arabs) whereat the Euros only figured it out a couple hundred years ago.

I'm reading Dana's books again. Irving Johnson comes to mind (there's a kewl video out showing his telephone pole practice). Alan Villiers is a good read.

[atoll]

interesting to note how few of these inspiring people sailed multihulls,mind you much of the pacific would never have been colonised if it were not for the ethnic multi canoe,by people who were true navigators.

which brings me to note two marine archeologists that i,ve been privilidged to meet

dr david lewis and tim severin,and hold in high esteem,for their voyages in medievel vessels.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Factor

Ahem - no one needed to discover the americas - they weren't lost, had people living there and everything. Thats like saying Cook discovered Australia. He was in fact about 40,000 years too late.

Age of discovery is an established European point of view accepted by the rest of the world as such.

p.s. come-on Cook Australia? All he found there was New Holland, discovered by the Dutch a couple hundred years before Cook ever arrived (remember, the Duyfken)

ciao!
Nick.

[atoll]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Age of discovery is an established European point of view accepted by the rest of the world as such.

p.s. come-on Cook Australia? All he found there was New Holland, discovered by the Dutch a couple hundred years before Cook ever arrived (remember, the Duyfken)

ciao!
Nick.

and don't forget the "clog",another great dutch discovery,
the first,sustainable,truly green footwear.........

[Factor]

Originally Posted by atoll

interesting to note how few of these inspiring people sailed multihulls,mind you much of the pacific would never have been colonised if it were not for the ethnic multi canoe,by people who were true navigators.

which brings me to note two marine archeologists that i,ve been privilidged to meet

dr david lewis and tim severin,and hold in high esteem,for their voyages in medievel vessels.

Ya think - looks like most of them did and Jess has sailed multis - skippered one in the gladstone race last year.

Truly inspirational people are inspirational because of what they do and how they do it, not how many hulls they have or which way they dress.

Originally Posted by Factor

In no order -

Moitessier
Eric Tabarlay - Multi
Dr David Lewis - Multi
Jessica Watson
Ellen Macarthur - Multi
Rosie Swaile - Multi
John Guzzwell
Francis Joyon - Multi

[Factor]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Age of discovery is an established European point of view accepted by the rest of the world as such..

Sorry nick, not only not accepted here but the High Court of Australia has ruled 20 odd years ago that the concept of Terra Nullius, the idea that places were not owned prior to little white men coming along, was not a valid view of history.

All the Dutch and Pommies did was find something that was already inhabited and already functional.

The only real discovery in the last thousand years was probably Aotearoa, uninhabited till the polynesian people sailed some multihulls there.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Factor

Ahem - no one needed to discover the americas - they weren't lost, had people living there and everything. Thats like saying Cook discovered Australia. He was in fact about 40,000 years too late.

The Asian's discovered America when they crossed the Alaska/Russia land bridge.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Factor

Sorry nick, not only not accepted here but the High Court of Australia has ruled 20 odd years ago that the concept of Terra Nullius, the idea that places were not owned prior to little white men coming along, was not a valid view of history.

All the Dutch and Pommies did was find something that was already inhabited and already functional.

The only real discovery in the last thousand years was probably Aotearoa, uninhabited till the polynesian people sailed some multihulls there.

Oh, why the ref to owning or not owning. I am talking about the age of discovery. Like the Dutch discovered what is called Australia today but they never owned it or attempted to own it. No Europeans knew about it before that moment. Check your Australian encyclopedia; it wil have it because as I said, it is accepted wordwide just like bronze age etc.

cheers,
Nick.

[kumgang]

Vito Dumas
Eric Tabarly
Moitessier
Sven Yrvind

[Astrid]

How about Leif Ericson found his way to NA 500 years before Columbus?

I believe it was actually Bjarni Herjólfsson who was the first European to sight North America. It was something of an accident as he had been blown off course by a storm whilst sailing to Greenland. He eventually found his way back to Greenland. Leif bought Bjarni´s ship and sailed off to find the land Bjarni had spotted and was subsequently successful and probably the first European to land in North America.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Astrid

I believe it was actually Bjarni Herjólfsson who was the first European to sight North America. It was something of an accident as he had been blown off course by a storm whilst sailing to Greenland. He eventually found his way back to Greenland. Leif bought Bjarni´s ship and sailed off to find the land Bjarni had spotted and was subsequently successful and probably the first European to land in North America.

What about Thor Heyerdahl's later speculations that other ancient civilizations made seafaring voyages, such as the North Africans/Egyptians, as he explored in his Ra Expedition. Trying to cross the Atlantic in a reed boat is almost crazier than crossing the Pacific on a balsa raft! But he swore that the Egyptians discovered South America first and that's why the pre-columbian indians built pyramids.

the RA EXPEDITIONS… « the pyramid beach roadhouse

[Astrid]

Heyerdahl showed it would have been possible to reach S. America in a reed boat (although the Egyptians also had timbered merchant ships for Med. trading expeditions from the old Kingdom onwards), had they a reason to sail out to the Atlantic. On the whole, the scientific community has remained skeptical of Heyerdahl's theory that Egyptian pyramid building influenced Central and South America.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Astrid

On the whole, the scientific community has remained skeptical of Heyerdahl's theory that Egyptian pyramid building influenced Central and South America.

To say the least! Just as they were sceptical even back then on his theory that the S. Pacific was populated by the Incas on balsa rafts.

[Me-and-Boo]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

That's what comes from having a country born effectively yesterday !!

The question was regarding "inspirational" not "historical". I am sure the Brit's were well inspired when a few of my ancestors decided to sail on over to Jolly Ol' England to vacation in Lindisfarne. That I consider historical and not inspirational. After all, taking leave to "vacation" in Lindisfarne is not on my bucket list because of what a few sailors did in 793.