Jimmy Cornell

Jimmy Cornell

An accomplished sailor and successful author, Jimmy Cornell has sailed over 200,000 miles in all oceans of the world including three circumnavigations as well as voyages to Antarctica, Alaska and Spitsbergen. Thousands of sailors have fulfilled their dream of blue water cruising with the help of Jimmy Cornell’s books, among them the bestseller World Cruising Routes. With over 200,000 copies sold to date, this is one of the best selling nautical publications in the world. Jimmy Cornell’s books have been translated into several languages.

As the founder of the highly successful ARC (Atlantic Rally For Cruisers) transatlantic rally in 1986, Jimmy Cornell is credited with having devised the offshore cruising rally concept. In the last three decades, Jimmy Cornell has organized 34 transatlantic rallies, five round the world rallies and one round the world race, with over 3,000 boats and 15,000 sailors having participated in his sailing events.

Jimmy Cornell was born in Romania in 1940. He grew up in Brasov and later attended Bucharest University where he studied economics. With his British wife Gwenda, he moved to London in 1969. He took up sailing while working as a reporter for the BBC World Service in London. In 1974 Jimmy Cornell fitted out himself a 36 foot fibreglass hull (a Trintella III, van de Stadt design - the first AVENTURA). In 1975 he left England with Gwenda and their two children (Doina 7 and Ivan 5) on a world voyage lasting 6 years, which took them to some 70 countries and totalled 68,000 miles. During the voyage Jimmy Cornell sent back regular radio reports to the BBC World Service.

A second AVENTURA (Bill Dixon design, 12 metre/40 feet in steel) was built in 1989 and completed a circumnavigation between 1989 and 1992, some of which was part of the first round the world rally organized by Jimmy between 1991 and 1992.

AVENTURA III (an OVNI 43 designed by Philippe Briand and built in France) was launched in May 1998 and sailed in 1999 to Antarctica. From there Jimmy and son Ivan sailed AVENTURA III to Alaska and British Columbia. In 2006 AVENTURA III completed a five year circumnavigation.

AVENTURA IV, Jimmy Cornell’s fourth boat, was launched in 2014 as the prototype of a new design, the Garcia Exploration 45, designed to sail and live aboard both in high latitudes and tropical waters. In 2015 Jimmy successfully navigated the Northwest Passage in Aventura, before selling her in 2017.

In his writing, Jimmy Cornell decided to tackle the various aspects of sailing and offshore cruising in a systematic way, and he conducted extensive surveys with cruising sailors in all oceans of the world, dealing with every aspect of voyaging under sail.

Jimmy Cornell's reputation as a writer on cruising matters was consolidated by the publication in 1987 of WORLD CRUISING ROUTES, which became an international best-seller and has been described as the "bible of offshore sailors" as it deals with all sailing routes of the world. WORLD CRUISING ROUTES has been translated into German, French, Italian and Spanish. A companion volume, WORLD CRUISING DESTINATIONS, deals with all maritime nations in the world and gives details of their main attractions, facilities, formalities, practical information and charter opportunities.

Jimmy Cornell’s World Cruising Series was completed in 2012 by the publication of WORLD VOYAGE PLANNER, whose main aim to help sailors plan a voyage from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world, with suggestions of alternative routes to certain destinations, recommended times and favourable seasons, tropical storm areas and critical months, and strategically located ports of call to be used in an emergency.

In 2007 Jimmy wrote and published A PASSION FOR THE SEA, Reflections on Three Circumnavigations. The book is based on Jimmy Cornell’s extensive knowledge of offshore cruising gained both from his personal experience that stretches over more than three decades and three circumnavigations. The book deals with all essential aspects of offshore cruising and every specific subject is dealt with in an informative and entertaining manner, backed up by telling incidents from the author’s wide-ranging practical experience. In 2017 he published a thoroughly revised and updated new version, entitled 200,000 MILES – A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

In 2011 Jimmy published CORNELL’S OCEAN ATLAS, a global compendium of pilot charts based on the latest satellite observations presenting a comprehensive picture of weather conditions in every ocean of the world. In 2018 a second edition was published, to take account of most recent satellite weather data.

Sailing rallies

In 1986 Cornell launched the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers), from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean. As a result of the success of the first ARC he founded the World Cruising Club, which specialises in international sailing events. The ARC is the largest transocean event in the world and one of the most successful sailing events in history.

Jimmy Cornell's most ambitious project was the Millennium Odyssey round the world rally, which started in August 1998 to celebrate the new millennium. The round the world rally finished in Rome in April 2000, when the Millennium Flame, that had been lit in Jerusalem and had been carried around the world by the yachts sailing in the rally, was handed over to Pope John Paul II. Over 50 yachts sailed in the Millennium Odyssey, making it the largest ever round the world event.

In 1999 Jimmy Cornell sold his interest in the World Cruising Club, which still runs the ARC. In 2012 he launched the Odyssey sailing rallies, aimed especially at cruising families, which crossed the Atlantic in November and January each year, as well as organising the Blue Planet Odyssey, a round the world event that took place from 2014-17 and aimed to raise awareness of the global effects of climate change in places such as Tuvalu and the Arctic. Barbados 50, a transatlantic rally from London to Barbados, celebrated 50 years of the Caribbean island’s independence in 2016. In 2018 Jimmy Cornell announced his decision to retire from rally organising.

More information on www.cornellsailing.com