Hatfield awarded

Around Alone hero gets two gongs at Canadian nautical awards

For Derek Hatfield, this past weekend was one to savour, when he received two of Canada's most prestigious sailing awards. Hatfield received the Canadian Yachting Association's 2003 Rolex Sailor of the Year Award as well as the Gerry Roufs' Trophy. Victor R. Royce, the CEO of Rolex Canada, claims Hatfield as a "humanitarian in our sport" and "very deserving of Canada's highest sailing award".

Rolex describes Hatfield's recent achievement; "Derek Hatfield has truly exemplified what the Spirit of Canada is all about. Through his sailing, public awareness speeches and presentations, he has not only raised Canada's awareness of sailing opportunities, but has heightened Canada's level of sailing excellence. Hatfield, as a humanitarian, brings credibility to our sport".

Hatfield has a considerable background as a singlehanded sailor and this year completed Around Alone racing over 28,700 nautical miles singlehanded around the world. Despite major obstacles along the way, Hatfield was one of nine international competitors and the only Canadian to finish the gruelling event.

To enter the Around Alone, Hatfield built his own boat specifically designed for one reason, to be sailed solo round the world as fast as possible. Unable to find a corporate sponsor, Hatfield, family and friends worked tirelessly over five years to build and fund the boat from scratch and get him to the start line.

There were tremendous accomplishments throughout the race but the major challenge occurred in the fourth leg of the race off treacherous Cape Horn. Here, after fighting 60ft waves during a day long Southern Ocean gale, a vertical breaking wave pitch-poled Spirit of Canada. The boat stood on it's nose, flipped upside down then back up again.  Hatfield was thrown off the deck into the frigid Southern Ocean water and then scooped up again as the boat righted itself. Unfortunately, Spirit of Canada was dismasted in the accident. Devastated, Hatfield motored Spirit of Canada for over 30 hours to Ushuaia, Argentina. Over the next four weeks, Hatfield and his team of friends and supporters worked diligently to repair the boat and get him back onto the racecourse. With a new mast donated by Pindar Group of the U.K., new sails and electronics and financial support from Canada's Decoma International, Spirit of Canada was again sailing but obviously significantly behind the rest of the boats.

On 31 May 2003, after almost eight months at sea, Hatfield arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.A. - the finish line - to a hero's welcome, as 100s of people came out to pay homage to a man who just would not quit. Finishing an amazing third place overall in Class II, Hatfield was the fastest 40ft boat in the race.

The former Canadian mountie's other sailing accomplishments include:

4th place 2001 Bermuda One Two;
2nd place 1999 Bermuda One Two;
2nd place 1997 Bermuda One Two;
1st place and Overall Winner of the 1996 Legend Cup Transatlantic Race;
7th place 1996 Europe One Single-handed Transatlantic Race;
1st place 1994 Labatt's Single-handed Race Series.