RORC Time Over Distance - Skip Novak: Whitbread racer and Antarctic explorer

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RORC Time Over Distance - Skip Novak: Whitbread racer and Antarctic explorer

by Louay Habib, RORC 25 Apr 2020 15:44 BST

RORC Time Over Distance - Skip Novak: Whitbread racer and Antarctic explorer © Royal Ocean Racing Club

Born in Chicago in 1952, Skip Novak is best known for his participation in four Whitbread Round the World Yacht Races, including three as skipper with Alaska Eagle, Drum and Fazisi.

Simon Le Bon's Drum famously capsized in the 1985 Fastnet Race but went on to compete in the Whitbread Round the World Race, finishing third. In 1989 Skip Novak project-managed the build of the first Soviet entry in the Whitbread Race - as the Iron Curtain was coming down, Novak skippered Fazisi in the round the world race.

Wishing to combine his mountaineering skills with sailing, Novak built his first expedition yacht Pelagic in 1987 and has since spent every season in Antarctic waters.

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