A LIFE AT SEA

HELEN FRETTER TALKS TO THE DOYEN OF BLUEWATER CRUISING TO FIND OUT WHY, AFTER 46 YEARS OF SAILING, HE’S NO LONGER GOING TO SEA

- JIMMY CORNELL

“In my entire life I have never given up on any of my projects, but... reluctantly I decided to abandon my plans.” So wrote Jimmy Cornell in his most recent blog post, as he explained his decision to abandon his most recent circumnavigation – an around the world loop following in the wake of Magellan on an all-electric Outremer catamaran.

Cornell had been preparing to set off on a project known as ‘Elcano 500’, marking the 500th anniversary of Portuguese skipper Ferdinand Magellan’s groundbreaking voyage, which was completed by Juan Sebastian Elcano in 1521. The circumnavigation, due to be Cornell’s fourth, was attempting to break new ground itself by being a fossil-free voyage. Unsurprisingly, the experimental technology involved had experienced teething problems and, having initially set off in late 2020 and sailed to the Canary Islands, he decided to return to the Outremer yard in France to improve some of the power regeneration systems on the boat, and wrote frequent updates on the project’s progress.

What few knew at the time, however, was that after returning to London for the winter, Cornell had suffered a subdural brain haemorrhage. “One day, while walking to an appointment, I suddenly felt dizzy, lost my balance and fell. My head hit the ground, but with my rugby past I didn’t think much of it, and returned home.

“Later that day, I didn’t feel well and was referred by our family doctor to the nearby neurosurgery hospital,” Cornell reported.