Covering the voyage
Key facts, a short biography and approved images, free to use with the credits shown. For interviews, footage or anything else, use the form at the bottom of the page.
The voyage in eight lines
- Skipper
- Tim Whitrow, Adelaide, South Australia. Right leg amputated below the knee after a light plane crash in 2019.
- Boat
- Sea Dragon, a 56ft (17m) Formosa ketch built in the 1980s, repainted in 2026 after nine months on the hardstand.
- The voyage
- Solo, non-stop, unassisted and under sail only: no crew, no ports, no outside help, no engine.
- Departure
- Port Adelaide, South Australia, October 2027. Finish: back in Adelaide.
- Route
- Eastabout: under Tasmania, across the Pacific to Cape Horn, north to the Azores, south past the Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian Ocean past Cape Leeuwin and home.
- Record attempt
- A Guinness World Records attempt in the category "Fastest time to sail around the world (LA2)". Subject to verification after the voyage; no title has been awarded. Tim hopes to be the first amputee to complete the voyage.
- Fundraising
- Public campaign on GoFundMe with a goal of A$100,000. Corporate sponsorship is separate.
- Tracking
- Iridium GO satellite tracker, AIS and Starlink on board. Live position on this site once he leaves.
Tim Whitrow
Short version, free to quote:
Tim Whitrow is an Adelaide sailor preparing for a solo, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the world in his 56ft ketch Sea Dragon, leaving Port Adelaide in October 2027. Tim lost his right leg below the knee in a light plane crash in 2019, after nearly thirty years as a winemaker. The voyage is a Guinness World Records attempt, and he hopes to be the first amputee to complete it.
Longer version:
Tim Whitrow spent close to three decades in the Australian wine industry, mostly in South Australia, with stints in China and the United States and a winery set up from scratch in Cyprus. He's also a pilot and a diver, and has never been able to leave an animal in trouble alone.
In 2019, flying a light plane on the set of Roadkill, his nephew's first feature film, at Renmark, South Australia, he crashed. He survived, but lost his right leg below the knee. He got back up, bought Sea Dragon, a 56ft Formosa ketch built in the 1980s, and decided the next thing to try would be the biggest: around the world alone, without stopping, without help and without an engine.
The voyage leaves Port Adelaide in October 2027 and heads east, under Tasmania, round Cape Horn, north to the Azores, south past the Cape of Good Hope and home across the Indian Ocean. It's a Guinness World Records attempt, and Tim hopes to be the first amputee to complete it. His message to the amputee community, and to anyone with a hard thing in front of them: losing a limb isn't what defines you. How you deal with it is.
Free to use with the credit shown
Click an image for the full-size file. Please credit as captioned. Video from the crash and from the refit is available on request.
In the news
Coverage links will be collected here as the story gets told.
Interviews, footage and photos
Tim is in Adelaide and available for interviews during the refit. At sea, he'll be reachable by Starlink when conditions allow. Email tim@seadragonvoyage.com or use the form.