Dream over as Paris abandons record bid

Stanley Paris has been forced to abandon his world record sailing bid.

The former Bermuda hotelier, 76, was attempting to become the oldest and fastest man to circumnavigate the globe. He crossed the start line off St David’s light last month.

However, designers of his Kiwi Spirit Yacht, after seeing photos of the damage and repairs to the boat, advised him that carrying on would be ‘inviting disaster’. They urged him to ‘make the prudent decision and stop’.

Boom end failure and a jury rigged mainsheet arrangement meant that loss of mainsail and subsequent dismasting was a very real possibility.

Paris announced his decision 35 days after leaving Bermuda. Dodge Morgan’s record, therefore, still stands at 150 days.

Paris wrote in his latest blog: “And so I have decided to abandon and head for Cape Town, some 1,700 miles away. 

“To continue in the face of the sage advice above would be foolish in the extreme, and cruel to my wife, family and friends. I must now abandon this dream.

“Life is full of disappointments — some big, some small. This is a big one as it involved four years of planning and execution. 

“[It was] Made bigger still by the involvement of so many others, designers, builders, family, friends, and through social media, several thousand more, all now disappointed and perhaps relieved that with the mounting difficulties the only right decision has been made.

“I should say I am sorry to disappoint so many. But there is one thing I can say and that is, “I tried,” and that my spirit did not give up until those that I must respect made it clear to me that it was over.”

He added that a recently-sustained shoulder injury played no part in the decision. 

Paris also insisted this was his one shot at the record and that he will not be attempting it again.

He wrote: “There will be no second attempt. 

“It will be a full year before I could start again and I have asked enough of my wife and family already. 

“The boat will be shipped from Cape Town to Maine, restored with the lessons learned, and be the fast family cruiser for which she was intended.”