Mingming II & the Impossible Voyage

Jake Kavanagh escapes to the wilderness with Roger D Taylor’s latest book

- Jake Kavanagh

If you enjoy long-range singlehanded sailing on a budget, you’ll probably be very familiar with the work of Roger D Taylor. His first book, Voyages of a Simple Sailor, described how he obtained his sealegs as mate on a sail training ship in New Zealand, becoming embayed and shipwrecked in the process.

Unfazed, he went on to build his own tiny ferrocement sloop and, in 1974, successfully competed in the 1,280-mile trans-Tasman solo yacht race. In 2006, he took part in the first ever Jester Transatlantic Challenge in his engineless, modified 21ft Corribee Mingming. However, he deviated from the finish line at Rhode Island to penetrate deep into the Arctic. This wanderlust for the high latitudes has been Taylor’s signature ever since and has given him a loyal following. In recent years he has swapped his Corribee 21 for a slightly larger Achilles 24, but equipped to the same proven formula: windvane self-steering, no engine, minimal electronics and an easily-handled junk rig.