The return of the Portugese

We recount the story of struggling Portugese solo sailor Ricardo Diniz who will set out across the Atlantic on his Mini in October

On 21st July the yacht was named and blessed in Portugal. With the support of the City of Lisbon and it's Mayor, the stage was the stunning Discoveries Monument by the River Tagus with hundreds of people present. Under the watchful eye of Henry the Navigator and the whole build team, the now named Gelpeixe was placed in the water by a big crane. Portugal had not seen such a ceremony for a boat in over 500 years.
The initial plan was to compete in the Mini Transat. Ricardo would be the first and only Portuguese entry in the first year the event sailed to Brazil. But the naming ceremony had made a deep impact on an emotional Ricardo. During the ceremony anonymous people wished him well and asked when he would be leaving from Lisbon. "Teachers wanted to know how their young students could visit the boat and talk to Ricardo about how he had followed his dream." And the press didn’t really want to know about the foreign race that left from France anyway.

"The Mini Transat is a great race, an outstanding human achievment. But my mission is to captivate my country and make people look at the sea once again. To sail from anywhere other than Portugal just doesn’t make sense anymore. All our sponsors are in favour of this decision and I know this will bring me closer to sailing around the world."

This will be Ricardo's fourth attempt to solo sail to Brazil. All previous attempts, twice on 21ft boats and once on the Open 50 ex- Jimroda (originally Mike Plant's Airco Distributor), failed due to lack of funding. The strong economic and cultural links between Portugal and Brazil go back centuries and Ricardo knows that he can create the necessary synergies between the two countries to get him around the world soon after.

The youth of two countries working together. A total of 37 sponsors. The first ever college built Mini Transat in the world. And the re-birth of Portugal's long lost sailing tradition. It's been a busy year for Ricardo Diniz.