Bruce Arms has successfully completed a solo circumnavigation of Australia onboard his Chamberlin 14m ‘Big Wave Rider’, claiming both the fastest solo unassisted record and the record for the first solo non stop circumnavigation in a multihull. (The new time is subject to ratification by the World Speed Sailing Record Council (WSSRC)). Bruce and Big Wave Rider battled the weather for the majority of the trip including becalmings on the North West Coast, severe storms rounding Cape Leeuwin and head winds across the Southern Ocean but still managed to better by three days the current record set by Ian Thomson in 2010.

At times Bruce faced 60 knots+ winds and 12m seas that battered the boat and had Bruce fearing he would be forced to abandon the record and run for shelter. During the height of the storm the drouge was lost when the lines parted, leaving Big Wave Rider surfing down the 12m waves at speeds over 24 knots. While attempting to jury rig a drouge with a set of bolt cutters, Bruce had a close brush with death when the line wrapped around his leg, almost pulling him overboard and leaving him with an injured knee and deep wounds around his lower leg. Although shaken at the time, battered and bruised at the finished line Bruce was able to laugh it off commenting that the boat had held up better than he did.

After the storm Bruce sent out an update on his blog which included a big thanks to Robin Chamberlin for designing a vessel that handled the conditions so well and saved the day. Big Wave Rider finished the epic journey with only a few leaky windows and chaffed lines to show for it, leaving Bruce rapt with both her strength and reliability as well as her performance which included a 200+ mile day hard on the wind in the Southern Ocean and some great runs which allowed them to better the record, even through prolonged adverse weather.

Congratulations to Bruce and the team on a job well done!

 

There is coverage of the finish at abc online (link below) with audio of the finish including interviews from Bruce, his father Les and supporters such as Jessica Watson.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/08/18/3296660.htm

The following link is a blog posted by Bruce on return from his voyage, discussing the performance of Big Wave Rider throughout the journey.

http://www.brucearms.com/blog/2011/08/big-wave-rider