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Sailing around the world and over Antarctica
Jul 4, 2004 11: 02 EST
Some folks undertake major expeditions once in a lifetime. Others do them every couple years or stick with mountaineering, ocean rowing, or some other specific genre. Then there are those that are just out there. Whether it's climbing Everest, skiing to the Poles, sailing around the world, rowing across an ocean, or just riding a bike across a continent.
That's who Fedor Konyukhov is. This Russian gets the all around, all-star badge. Let's go through the tick list: An unsupported South Pole ski, Supported North Pole crossing (three NP trips all together), crossed the Atlantic 12 times, once in a rowboat, climbed Everest and the rest of the seven summits, three circumnavigations of the world in a sailboat (once against the prevailing winds, and once in a solo race around the world), traveled from Vladivostok to St Petersburg by bike, an Iditarod, and rode the Great Silk Path on a camel.
The word Everest just ends up getting lost in list above, that's how much stuff this guy's been doing - he's even got children and grandchildren and enjoys painting. Why does he do all this stuff? "I am searching for an explanation for the sense of life through my journeys. I want to know why man is born, grows, lives through many difficulties, gets married, has children and then dies. The same is true for his children."
Some search for the meaning of life in a book, others at church, for Fedor, he appears convinced it's somewhere hidden in the most inaccessible places on earth.
He's no spring chicken either; the Russian is pushing 53 this year. So
what's next for him? First up in 2005 he will be single-handedly sailing around the world on his 85 ft. maxi, "Trading network Alye Parusa." Following this he goes straight to Greenland to run tests on a specially designed iceboat he plans to use for an Antarctic crossing. He figures that a, "crossing of Greenland Island will be the best preparation for Antarctica and great adventure itself."
The same folks in the UK that built his Ocean Rowing boat built the iceboat. Back in 2002 he set the current solo, unassisted record for an Atlantic Ocean row, 46 days and 4 hours - and he was over 50 years old. Just because he has completed many adventures before does it mean that the Antarctic crossing will be a walk in the park. Just recently a couple of folks brought their iceboat down to Antarctica to go from the Pole to the Coast. This craft was even conceived by a retired Formula 1 car designer. They had to abort simply because they had no wind! Something tells us lack of wind won't entirely stop Fedor in his tracks - he's probably got a towline and some crampons so he can lug the thing across if all else fails!
Fedor Konyukhov was born December 12, 1951, in a family of fishermen in Priazovye, at Azov sea. He is a distant sailing captain and a yacht captain who has covered more than 150,000 nautical miles solo by sail. He is also an honorable resident of the city of Nakhodka (Primorsk Region, Russia), the city of Terni (Italy), and the village of Bergin (Kalmykia, Russia).
Image of Fedor courtesy of Konyukhov.ru.
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