The Skipper

Sailing Experience

Approx. 8,000 nm. Preparing for 2,000 solo ocean miles from San Francisco to Hawaii and back to San Francisco in 2025. Also San Francisco to Alaska and then back in 2025, east coast USA to Canada and back, and east coast USA to France in 2026.

Why the GGR?

When I crossed the Atlantic 25+ years ago on friend/mentor Captain Dan Harper’s 1985 Ron Holland Swan 42, I mentioned to Dan my desire to do Cape Horn with him. Dan Harper (founder of Siren Marine, who sadly passed too young and unexpectedly recently) was a little taken aback by my statement. “Do you have any idea how serious that is, Steve?”, was Dan’s response. We’ve been in touch ever since and he was helping me look for my first boat, and said we’d find it sailing his Swan 42 to Australia for an America’s Cup racing competition he wanted to do, I believe, with his boat, Corban.

When he passed, his family offered me the Swan 42 free of charge because of our friendship. Unfortunately, the boat got caught up in inheritance/legal issues so it never happened. Sadder is that I lost my mentor and friend. If I made it into GGR, I would be sailing to make him proud, as well as my brother, a fantastic sailor, also taught to sail by Captain Dan Harper.

Finding a copy of Alfred Lansing’s Endurance on a shelf in my parents’ garage 30+ years ago (given to my dad by a friend years before) and reading it from start to finish without stopping, left a very big impression on me. Shackleton became my instant hero, and, as it turned out, Captain Dan Harper felt the same way, and he eventually even made it to where Shackleton was buried on South Georgia. I hope to do the same.

My Dad, the ultimate optimist and hard-working grinder, and a young 90 year old who would literally be bored to death with retirement, has often said, “Steve, you’re always involved in the relentless pursuit of the impossible. If you can’t fix it or MacGyver it, it can’t be done”. My Mom, defined by the words printed on the Nike T-shirt I got her years ago, Pure Energy, is filled with endless caring and love. Her stamina, discipline, and determination are a marvel to me. She always has a plan, structure, and order. Consequently, she cringes every time I mention a new adventure, worrying incessantly that I won’t come back. A few years ago, a local Aspen, Colorado newspaper reporter once asked me about Everest and if I was afraid of dying, and my answer was simple, “I’m not afraid of dying, I’m afraid of not living”.

GGR seems like the ULTIMATE TEST and one I don’t take lightly. I’ve never shied away from tough challenges and risk, like climbing and summiting Mount Everest and taking my snowboard along for the descent. Another Everest, or Never Rest, has been helping my Dad start and bring to market two Silicon Valley companies, LYTEN and Tibaray, to change the world of clean energy and stop cancer in its tracks. Taking on GGR seems almost unfathomable to me, considering the sailing pedigrees, far greater than mine, of so many of the skippers and past entrants. But GGR Founder, Don McIntyre, inspired me early on to “keep the dream alive” with his positive messages about GGR and its history, like, “It is for ‘those who dare’, just as it was for Sir Robin”.

Also in Don’s words about GGR: My dream to sail solo around the world was born of inspiration gained while following the solo voyages of Francis Chichester, Robin Knox-Johnston and Bernard Moitessier, and reading about Chay Blyth, Blondie Hasler and others from the ‘Golden Age’ of solo sailing. That was an exciting period!

Another message from Don about Sir Robin: That same year, Robin was asked: ‘What would you say to sailors thinking of circumnavigating?’ His response: ‘My advice to them would be quite simply this. If you’ve got the idea, and you want to do it, then do it. Don’t let ANYTHING get in the way. Far too many people sit in yacht clubs talking about it but then never do it. DO IT! You’ll never regret it.’ He’s right of course. 

Best and worst aspects

I only see the best so far. I have been captivated from the moment a fellow Cal Sailing Club member mentioned it in a post.

The Boat

Stephen’s preferred boat for GGR 2026 is a Cape George 36 for its stoutness, power, and fine lines.