The Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard (GCCM) is pleased to announce its support of young Australian boatie Xavier Doerr, who is attempting to break several sailing records.
Who is Xavier Doerr?
Xavier, who is only twenty-one, has competed in the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race twice. He’s a Gold Coast Local and a proud member of the Southport Yacht Club, as well as a member of the famed world-class youth, match racing programme run by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) in Sydney, which has produced some of the best offshore sailors in the world.
He is establishing himself as a well-known young offshore sailor through his experience as a rigger, love of match racing, and self-learning on carbon fibre building and shipwright work. High-performance race ships made of carbon fibre are something Xavier enjoys racing very much.
On the wide seas, Xavier is capable of repairing any accidents or breakages that occur, which he will need to be able to on his upcoming major journey: circumnavigating Australia on a 21-foot sailboat!
How is Xavier going to do this?
The GCCM-sponsored “Little Aussie Lap” will set and break multiple Guinness World Records on its solo, nonstop, unassisted tour of Australia in a 21-foot high-performance carbon fibre race yacht including:
- Smallest sailboat to circumnavigate Australia (monohull, solo) – (new record)
- Youngest person to circumnavigate Australia by sailboat (monohull, solo) – (new record), and being the
- Fastest solo and non-stop circumnavigation of Australia in a monohull sailing vessel – (breaking the current record held)
The voyage is the equivalent of finishing 12 consecutive Sydney to Hobart races, or 1/3 of a full lap of the world, in one of Australia’s most extreme and daring record attempts. For Xavier, it will mean 200 freeze-dried meals and only 15 minutes of sleep at a time so he can stay alert all the time and perform at his best.
Xavier has spent the last two years organising and refitting a 21-foot Mini Transat 650 class offshore racing yacht made of high-performance carbon fibre now renamed GCCM. The Mini Transat is the ideal vessel for such a record attempt because it was built for high-performance solo sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.
When does he do it?
When Xavier Doerr’s adventure is over, he will be the fastest, youngest sailor to complete the journey on the smallest boat. He wants to set sail from Southport Yacht Club on the Gold Coast in April 2023. Xavier hopes to finish the trip in less than 50 days.
His initial attempt to break the record was unsuccessful due to an electrical breakdown during a fierce, multi-day 60-knot storm. This will be his second attempt.
How to participate
GCCM is honoured to be sponsoring Xavier’s not-so-little trip around Australia You can keep track of his development by following GCCM and Xavier on social media.
While fans follow Xavier’s journey on social media from their home cities, we hope a flotilla of boats and news teams will send him away when he leaves from Southport Yach Club end of April. Fans from all over the world can follow Xavier’s progress in real-time with access to a specially developed, round-the-clock web tracker.
Visit www.thelittleaussielap.com/tracker to watch the tracker.
We wish Xavier well on his trip and will keep you informed on his progress.
+ Follow GCCM socials for exclusive interviews with Xavier while preparing for his record-breaking adventure:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goldcoastcitymarina
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldcoastcitymarina
