Chris Jacks takes on Great Britain for his first solo sail

Chris Jacks

Professional sailor and adventurer Chris Jacks is taking on his first solo voyage as he prepares for the Golden Globe Race 2018 and next year’s Transat race – formerly known as OSTAR.

Previously the most the 30-year-old had ever sailed single-handed was for an hour on the River Mersey.

Having left Liverpool last Saturday, 21 May, Chris has now reached Newlyn, Cornwall in his Nicholson 32 Mark II yacht Roma, having completed 350 miles of the round-Britain adventure.

Chris told PBO: ‘It’s brilliant, I’m absolutely loving it.

‘It’s very exhilarating to be honest. Last night I ran into a couple of problems, I was slapped about a bit by a rope and a sheet went overboard and I thought it was going under the prop, that was a panic moment.

‘It took four hours to get from Land’s End to Newlyn, that was a long slog because of the tides. I had the tide with me to Land’s End but then it changed as I came around the peninsula.’

He added: ‘I’ve been staying awake for 24 hours at a time, then trying to stop and get a couple of hours sleep, take anchor somewhere, work out the tides and when to catch the next one.

Chris Jacks’ first leg around Britain – from Liverpool to Holyhead

Chris, who reached Holyhead in the early hours of Sunday morning following leg one of the adventure, intends to make Plymouth his next port of call. So far he has been joined by dolphins and also a pigeon en route.

The circumnavigation is expected to take four to five weeks in total.

Roma at Holyhead

He said: ‘It’s a bit like what Ellen MacArthur did, sailing around Britain first. Britain can be a treacherous place to sail because of the tides, it’s the perfect training ground.

‘I’m preparing for the Golden Globe Race and The Transat.

‘Everybody told me I needed to do more training beforehand. So I thought bloody hell, what an achievement if my first time solo sailing is around Britain.’

Chris who is sponsored by various companies, including Saturn Sails and Liverpool Marina where he usually lives aboard Roma, enjoys a challenge.

In the past, he has climbed 92 mountains in 40 days, and slept for eight nights on the rainy fell Fleetwood Pike in the Lake District – from Christmas until New Year’s Eve last year – to raise money for charity.

Follow his adventures at Chris Jacks – Jacks Adventures on Facebook.