Paris ticks off leg two as he celebrates Christmas at sea

Stanley Paris celebrated Christmas on board his yacht Kiwi Spirit — and then toasted  completing the second stage of his record-attempting non-stop around the world voyage.

The former Bermuda hotelier is currently trying to become the fastest and oldest person to sail around the globe solo.

The 76-year-old’s bid began 24 days ago east of St David’s lighthouse. He is attempting to break the mark set by Dodge Morgan who circumnavigated the world in 150 days.

Christmas saw him pass the north east tip of Brazil, which enabled him to tick off leg two.

And while there is a long way to go, Paris allowed himself a pat on the back for the progress made so far.

He wrote in his blog: “In the early morning of Christmas Eve we crossed the equator off the north east corner of Brazil and, no surprise, on the latitude of Equator. 

“It was a bright and beautiful day, the best yet. I am using it to catch up on sleep, as going through the doldrums with their confusing wind directions  and squalls, as many as two an hour, and with damage to the mainsail battens etc, I had my hands full.

“It is the end of  Leg II. I have divided the voyage into the following legs:

Leg I: St. Augustine to Bermuda.

Leg II: To the North East corner of Brazil – done

Leg III: To the South Atlantic, where I begin the turn east to pass under South Africa, Australia and New Zealand

Leg IV: Rounding Cape Horn and heading back north

Leg V: From the North East corner of Brazil to  Bermuda and the official finishing line

Leg VI: To St. Augustine and a new first, as no boat has circumnavigated non-stop from St.  Augustine.”

You can follow his progress by logging on to www.stanleyparis.com and clicking on the yellowbrick on-board tracker.