BRIAN bj CALDWELL/Solo Circumnavigation

Dream your dreams....
Brian bj Caldwell

Commercial Partners
Young Man & the Sea
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"We are the children of legends. Without them where would our lives be? Life would go by as a short strained journey, like restless ants, running about like rabbits. Deprive man of his dreams and he dies. And among the legends which include the greatest, the strongest and which allow our dreams to run riot, further than our own limitations is the legend of the sea. This immense force, at once violent and calm, covers four-fifths of our planet. A magical force unto itself. A fascinating mixture of movement and permanence. The sea must above all be respected to bring color to the adventures of the new millennium so that in the years to come, like the waves, they will be higher and better with hope in the future."
- Erik Orsenna

After growing up cruising in the South Pacific with my family, we returned to our home-port in Honolulu Hawai`i when I was 15 years old.

My dream was to keep sailing, so I set my sights on the record for the "World's Youngest Solo Circumnavigation".

I spent summer breaks from high school sailing over ten-thousand miles on yacht deliveries and to raise funding for my circumnavigation. In 1995, exactly one-hundred years after Joshua Slocum's departure ( first to solo circumnavigate), I departed. Sixteen months and 27,000 miles later, I became the youngest circumnavigator. The first step of my dream was reality.

In 1997, Bruno Peyron (First to circumnavigate in less than 80 days) arrived in Honolulu fresh from breaking the TransPac Race record. It was part of a global promotional tour for The Race 2000. On Bastille Day, Bruno invited me to sail to Tahiti aboard the world's fastest yacht Explorer. After a number of very fast days aboard the 86ft catamaran, we arrived in French Polynesia - the birth-place of multi-hulls. Bruno is a mentor and one of the most remarkable sailors of our time, truly a sailor of the millinium! A second dream had come true...

The next step of my dream is to sail around the world nonstop and solo. Records are what justify the commercial partnership for such a voyage. The first circumnavigation was undertaken to enhance my future sailing.

For me, the vision from the beginning has been to find a nice rythm with nature. To sail a conception design that personifies all my experience at sea...not just from the last circle but since my parents first took me out when I was two months old.

The racing and pursuit of records is secondary to my love for the sailing itself. In the great scheme of things, any skipper can win a race - but man will never have the advantage over the mighty sea. We can only strive to go down to the sea showing full respect by bringing all of our experience to bear. It's the ocean I love, not the race...but I think the race results will reflect the sailor who most loves the sea...because to win, you have to finish.

The means to realizing my future voyages is to show a commercial partner my vision. We are all human, any one of us can accomplish the so called 'impossible' if we imagine the possibilities and believe in ourselves!

During my next nonstop solo circumnavigation voyage, I intend to promote the use of alternative energy sources by utilizing strictly solar and wind power for all my energy requirements. I will circle the world without once burning fossil fuels.

I will promote this non-pollutant energy policy by establishing a global E-mail network for youth. Grade-school kids around the world will be able to ask me questions while at sea. Via my internet website, they will also learn about geography, science and math - all requirements for navigating the world alone.

Equally as important I believe, will be my insistence on following your dreams. I hope to inspire students that the only limitation to what you can do, are the boundaries of your imagination. If you can dream it - consider it done. We are all human, any one of us can accomplish the so called 'impossible' if we imagine the possibilities and believe in ourselves!

"All men dream - but not equally,
Those who dream by night in the dusty
recesses of their mind
wake in the day to find that it was vanity - but the dreamers
of the day are dangerous men,
for they may act out their dreams with open eyes,
to make it possible."

T.E. Lawrence
Seven Pillars of Wisdom

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