Ertan Beskardes FINALLY arrived at 4 am this morning happy to get in then at 9 am he came alongside for the Vuda Marina Fiji welcome after 12000 miles across the Atlantic and Pacific to end leg 2.
Jane Eric and me arrived just as the singing finished …!! OPPs #mgr2025
Pics DD VIDEO JJ & Eric
Ertan Beskardes – UNITED KINGDOM – Trekka
Turkish-British sailor Ertan Beskarde entered the 2018 and the 2022 edition of the Golden Globe Race. Both times he had to make a bold decision to retire for personal reasons.
In 2022, Ertan retired after reaching the Cape Town gate on November 16 on Lazy Otter.
He said he lived an incredible experience over the 10 weeks, but did not think he would enjoy the next three months to Cape Horn, citing extreme isolation. “I was looking for the unknown and I found it”, he said.
Now Ertan is energised to make the Mini Transat in 2023 and MGR 2025 going forward, following his passion for the sea. The style of the 5.80 race and Ertan’s exceptional experience in preparing for this kind of challenge are promising a great match.
His much-loved friendly style was obvious to all in the GGR and his breakfast omelettes for all on the marina became world famous! Follow Ertan’s story in our 5.80 updates.
He came to the UK in 1979 and made a career in military tailoring and regalia, before setting up his own company with his wife in Bournemouth in 1994.
There, they built a boat in the back garden and have been sailing regularly in nearby Christchurch Harbour since 1998.
As their children grew up he graduated first to a Drascombe Cruiser Longboat, then a Parker 235 cruising yacht before buying a Jeanneau Odyssey 33 in 2012, sailing each year-round.
Ertan Beskardes: Mini Globe Race skipper 2025
Ertan Beskardes shares why he believes the 2025 Mini Globe Race is his chance to achieve his dream of sailing around the world
Ertan Beskardes will be racing on Trekka – the first Class Globe 5.80 ever built. Credit: Ertan Beskardes/Ocean Frontiers OGR/GGR/CG580 Credit: Ertan Beskardes/Ocean Frontiers OGR/GGR/CG580
TAGS:circumnavigationMini Globe RaceTop storiesYacht race
Ertan Beskardes has plenty of experience preparing for solo races, having entered both the 2018 and 2022 Golden Globe Race.
But loneliness and the lack of contact with his family ended both races for the Turkish-UK sailor.
Now, he plans to compete in the 2025 Mini Globe Race: the difference? With no restrictions on having modern communications equipment on board, he will be able to stay in constant contact with his family while sailing each leg of the race.
“A lack of communication with my family has been my one issue in the past; it takes the pleasure out of the race,” explained Ertan Beskardes.
“To be able to just call my mother, and say ‘How are you, mom? And she says, ‘I’m okay’; that makes me feel really very happy.”
Ertan Beskardes has extensive solo experience in the waters around the UK, Europe and the Mediterranean, and has sailed the Atlantic solo many times. Credit: Nora Havel/GGR
A sailor since his teenage years, Beskardes learnt to handle a yacht on the Bosphorus strait in Turkey, where he lived until moving to England and settling in Bournemouth, where he runs a military tailoring and regalia business with his wife, Arzu.
Together, they built their first boat in the back garden of their home, regularly sailing out of Christchurch.
Since those early days, they have owned a Drascombe Cruiser Longboard, a Parker 235, a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 33 and the Rustler 36, Lazy Otter, which Beskardes sailed in both editions of the Golden Globe Race.
He has since sold Lazy Otter and bought the Globe 5.80, Trekka from the Mini Globe Race and Class Globe 5.80 founder, Don McIntyre.
Beskardes has already qualified for the Mini Globe Race 2025, having finished the 2023 Globe 5.80 Transat, where he placed fourth.
Trekka is based in Antigua, the start of the 2025 race; leg 1 will begin on 23 February 2025,
“This will be quite an epic journey in a little boat. Having taken part in the 2018 and 2022 Golden Globe Races, I am hoping it will be third time lucky to make it around the world.”
Builders Blog: https://globe580.blogspot.com
