Sixteen skippers begin 27,000-mile voyage "To young men contemplating a voyage I would say go."
Joshua Slocum offered that advice after returning in 1898 from a solo three-year voyage around the world in his 36-ft. 9-in. Spray. Last week 16 sailors from eight countries (five Americans, three Britishers, three Frenchmen, a New Zealander, an Australian, a Japanese, a South African and a Czech) followed the great Yankee skipper's advice. As a gunshot cracked across Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay to signal the start, each sailor turned his stern on the plush attractions of old...