SOUTH African yachtsman Gregory Were will hopefully leave Falmouth today (Thursday) on a mammoth non-stop round-the-world single-handed circumnavigation, similar to that done in 1969 by Sir Robin Knox Johnston with his yacht Suhaili, a 32 ft Bermudan ketch.

Greg’s yacht named Hummingbird is just 20 feet long which if he achieves his goal, will be a world record for the smallest boat ever to complete this voyage which will take over a year to complete.

Hummingbird is a Flicka 20 yacht, quite beamy for her length, has a wooden mast which Greg has strengthened with carbon fibre, and according to him on a long voyage, she averages 3.5 knots depending of course on weather conditions.

I met met 33-year-old Greg and his wife Jannean at the Falmouth Yacht Haven where preparations and final checks were well in hand for the epic voyage. Greg is a chief officer on 3,000-ton general cargo ships when not sailing his yacht.

Stores for a year long voyage takes up a considerable amount of space as Robin Knox-Johnston found out before leaving Falmouth. Greg will be carrying a large amount of tinned food, rice, pasta and spices to liven them up.

Hummingbird has a basic water maker, but Greg will also rely on ‘collecting rainwater off the sails.’

Greg said his main concern is ‘falling overboard during the voyage or a rigging failure.’

After sailing from Falmouth, he will head down past West Africa towards Cape Town. Then he must cross the Southern Ocean to Australia, south of New Zealand and around the dreaded Cape Horn before heading north again to Falmouth. A total distance of some 31,000 miles.

In an interview, Robin Knox-Johnson once said of his time in the Southern Ocean: “Waves went straight over the top of the boat. Sitting in the cockpit, you’re crushed, bruised.

“I saw one particularly big one and I realised I couldn’t get to the safety of down below and went up the rigging, otherwise I would have been washed off.

“You have to learn how to deal with that. Every boat handles differently. I was incredibly lucky because I found Suhaili was very responsive once I learnt how to look after her.

“But, the only way to find out was down there.”

He admits the early days sailing in the Southern Ocean ‘were frightening,’ where the impact of the waves ‘is like someone swinging an anvil against the hull.’

Hummingbird is fitted with AIS (Automatic Identification System) allowing people to follow his progress on the voyage using the appropriate App such as Marine Traffic.