Bill Hatfield, 77, reattempts solo 'oldest man' sailing record

William Hatfield set sail last week from Sydney on a reattempted solo round-the-world, west-about voyage on his newly acquired yacht, L’eau Commotion.

The seasoned sailor hopes to complete this journey within eight to nine months without stopping. We last tracked him doing 3.7 knots off the Tassie coast on September 19.

Hatfield’s previous attempt, on-board the yacht Katherine Ann last year, saw a struggle with rough seas while passing Cape Horn. While seated in the cockpit he felt a large rush of water overturn and damage his yacht and out of nowhere he was propelled into the water.

"I pulled myself backup, got on and made my way back home."

Hatfield’s positive spirit to achieve his round-the-world voyage fights on. He was quickly able to sell Katherine Ann and get hold of L’eau Commotion and begin planning his next attempt.

"I got back and said oh, I’ll have another crack"

The sailor estimates the voyage will be roughly eight to nine months at sea, which brings about the question of how he survives on-board for so long, both physically and mentally.

"I’ve got a nice laptop and quite a few DVDs that I entertain myself with, as well as a few books on the iPad, and I update my blog also."

Furthermore Hatfield seems to be more than prepared with his on-board food stocks.

"I have 30kg of rice, 30kg rolled oats, 30kg flour, tinned fish, beans, dried fruit and dried milk and I’ll occasionally catch a fish," he explained.

Hatfield's laid-back, down-to-earth attitude was certainly highlighted in his reasoning for attempting the round the world voyage.

"There was a world record to be had, so I said I’ll have a crack at it."

Fellow sailors say Hatfield has the sailing experience to pull it off. To stay up to date with Hatfield follow the Where is William tracker?

Credit: News by Josh Scholes, Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.