#132: Lisa Blair on Imagination, Fear & Solo Sailing

Lisa Blair was 22 when she discovered a passion for sailing.

Just 6 years later, she completed her first circumnavigation of the world as part of the Clipper Round the World Yacht race.

Since then she’s gone onto sail solo to New Zealand twice, to skipper the first all-female team in 16 years to race the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht race and set not one but two World Records in the process of becoming the first woman to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around Australia.

In the midst of that, in 2017 Lisa set out on her most ambitious project to date;  to become the first woman to sail solo unassisted and non-stop around Antarctica and to break the men’s World Record in the process.

As you’ll hear in this conversation, that expedition did not go to plan and on a stormy night 72 days into her trip and 1,000 nautical miles from shore, her boat lost its mast and Lisa had to fight for 4 hours to save her boat -- and her life.

Not only did she survive the night and spend 9 days limping back to port in Cape Town, South Africa for repairs, Lisa then found the courage to head back into the Southern Ocean and finish the challenge - in doing so become the first woman to sail solo and unassisted (with one stop) around Antarctica.

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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