Uploaded March 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Istvan Kopar went from last (13th place) to 4th place from day 27 to day 263 of the 2018 Golden Globe Race. The Hungarian-American solo sailor battled broken steering, busted windvanes, lost log lines, broken radios, and peeling fingernails to best 14 other competitors at the start of the the 2018 Golden Globe Race (GGR). The GGR 2018 is a retro race that bans the use of satellite phones and GPS navigation. Kopar got a 24-hour time penalty added to his 263 days at sea because of an unsanctioned stop and sat phone use. All the first four finishers of the sailboat race for full-keel yachts of 32-to-36 feet long have been penalized for breaking the retro rules of the yacht race.
The video quotes from his GGR bio:
"Istvan Kopar, a Hungarian-born American, is a professional sailor and U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captain who has logged more than 60,000 nautical miles sailing solo. His proudest accomplishment to date was his solo one-stop circumnavigation in 1990-1991 without the aid of GPS. He relied on a sextant, manual chart plotting, and weather forecasts broadcast in Morse code. Sailing a 31-foot boat that he had built himself, Istvan completed the voyage in record time for the size of his yacht. Istvan also skippered the winning yacht in the 1996/97 Hong Kong Challenge around the world yacht race. He was among the top finishers in the 1992 America 500-Columbus Transatlantic Race, and won the Kapry’s Trophy in the 1995 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC).
He says of the GGR: 'This race is custom-made for me. My first hero and role model was Joshua Slocum, the first recorded solo circumnavigator. He had no land support, no modern navigation and communication devices, or even a mechanical wind vane. He was the real deal. And he was able to accomplish this historic achievement due to his upbringing and constant connection with the oceans and sailing.'"
"Boat
RACE NO 37
Name Puffin
Type Tradewind 35 Cutter
Designer John Rock
Builder Tradewind Yachts (NL)
LOA 35.01ft / 10.67m
LWL 25.82ft / 7.87m
Beam 10.50ft / 3.20m
Draft 5.51ft / 1.68m
Displacement 19442 lbs / 8819 kgs
Sail area 725sq. ft / 67.35sq. m
Istvan Kopar purchased the 1986-built Tradewind 35 class yacht Puffin in 2015 to compete in the GGR..."
Photo by Christophe Favreau/PPL/GGR
Video reproduced with permission by GGR/PPL/VNR
Some of the GGR video taken by Istavan Kopar.
The GGR/PPL pictures and VNR video are in the public domain and were used with permission.
The Slow Boat Sailing t-shirts and mug are at
teespring.com/slow-boat-sailing
teespring.com/slow-boat-sailing-mug
teespring.com/women-s-tee-slow-boat-sailing
Support the videos at
Patreon.com/slowboatsailing
On the Slow Boat Sailing Podcast Linus Wilson has interviewed the crew of Sailing SV Delos, WhiteSpotPirates (Untie the Lines), Chase the Story Sailing, Gone with the Wynns, MJ Sailing, Sailing Doodles, SV Prism, Sailing Miss Lone Star, and many others.
Get Linus Wilson’s bestselling sailing books:
Slow Boat to the Bahamas
amazon.com/dp/B018OUI1Q2
Slow Boat to Cuba
amazon.com/dp/B01MFFX9AG
gumroad.com/l/cubabook
and How to Sail Around the World-Part Time
amazon.com/dp/B01B0OFYNW
gumroad.com/l/sailing
have been #1 sailing ebook bestsellers on Amazon.
You can get the full audiobook of Sailing to Treasure Island by Captain John C. Voss. at
Patreon.com/slowboatsailing
SAILING TO TREASURE ISLAND: The Cruise of the XORA (Annotated) by Captain J.C. Voss
The paperback at
amazon.com/dp/1790302390
or
lulu.com/shop/captain-jc-voss/sailing-to-treasure-island-the-cruise-of-the-xora/paperback/product-23887731.html
or the eBook at
lulu.com/shop/captain-jc-voss/sailing-to-treasure-island-the-cruise-of-the-xora/ebook/product-23887490.html
or audiobook
audible.com/pd/B07LC35H18/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-136779&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_136779_rh_us
Get the paperback or eBook
Sailing the Ogre: The Log of a Woman Wanderer (Annotated)
by Mabel M. Stock
at
amazon.com/dp/B07MB8BF3C
or the audiobook at Patreon.com/slowboatsailing
or audible
audible.com/pd/B07N7LT2DQ/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-140980&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_140980_rh_us
Senior Associate Producer Calvin Holt
Associate Producers Larry Wilson, Kevin Yager, and Rick Moore (SSL).
Sign up for our free newsletter for access to free books and other promotions at slowboatsailing.com
Copyright Linus Wilson, Oxriver Publishing, Vermilion Advisory Services, LLC, 2019
Istvan Kopar went from last (13th place) to 4th place from day 27 to day 263 of the 2018 Golden Globe Race. The Hungarian-American solo sailor battled broken steering, busted windvanes, lost log lines, broken radios, and peeling fingernails to best 14 other competitors at the start of the the 2018 Golden Globe Race (GGR). The GGR 2018 is a retro race that bans the use of satellite phones and GPS navigation. Kopar got a 24-hour time penalty added to his 263 days at sea because of an unsanctioned stop and sat phone use. All the first four finishers of the sailboat race for full-keel yachts of 32-to-36 feet long have been penalized for breaking the retro rules of the yacht race.
The video quotes from his GGR bio:
"Istvan Kopar, a Hungarian-born American, is a professional sailor and U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captain who has logged more than 60,000 nautical miles sailing solo. His proudest accomplishment to date was his solo one-stop circumnavigation in 1990-1991 without the aid of GPS. He relied on a sextant, manual chart plotting, and weather forecasts broadcast in Morse code. Sailing a 31-foot boat that he had built himself, Istvan completed the voyage in record time for the size of his yacht. Istvan also skippered the winning yacht in the 1996/97 Hong Kong Challenge around the world yacht race. He was among the top finishers in the 1992 America 500-Columbus Transatlantic Race, and won the Kapry’s Trophy in the 1995 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC).
He says of the GGR: 'This race is custom-made for me. My first hero and role model was Joshua Slocum, the first recorded solo circumnavigator. He had no land support, no modern navigation and communication devices, or even a mechanical wind vane. He was the real deal. And he was able to accomplish this historic achievement due to his upbringing and constant connection with the oceans and sailing.'"
"Boat
RACE NO 37
Name Puffin
Type Tradewind 35 Cutter
Designer John Rock
Builder Tradewind Yachts (NL)
LOA 35.01ft / 10.67m
LWL 25.82ft / 7.87m
Beam 10.50ft / 3.20m
Draft 5.51ft / 1.68m
Displacement 19442 lbs / 8819 kgs
Sail area 725sq. ft / 67.35sq. m
Istvan Kopar purchased the 1986-built Tradewind 35 class yacht Puffin in 2015 to compete in the GGR..."
Photo by Christophe Favreau/PPL/GGR
Video reproduced with permission by GGR/PPL/VNR
Some of the GGR video taken by Istavan Kopar.
The GGR/PPL pictures and VNR video are in the public domain and were used with permission.
The Slow Boat Sailing t-shirts and mug are at
teespring.com/slow-boat-sailing
teespring.com/slow-boat-sailing-mug
teespring.com/women-s-tee-slow-boat-sailing
Support the videos at
Patreon.com/slowboatsailing
On the Slow Boat Sailing Podcast Linus Wilson has interviewed the crew of Sailing SV Delos, WhiteSpotPirates (Untie the Lines), Chase the Story Sailing, Gone with the Wynns, MJ Sailing, Sailing Doodles, SV Prism, Sailing Miss Lone Star, and many others.
Get Linus Wilson’s bestselling sailing books:
Slow Boat to the Bahamas
amazon.com/dp/B018OUI1Q2
Slow Boat to Cuba
amazon.com/dp/B01MFFX9AG
gumroad.com/l/cubabook
and How to Sail Around the World-Part Time
amazon.com/dp/B01B0OFYNW
gumroad.com/l/sailing
have been #1 sailing ebook bestsellers on Amazon.
You can get the full audiobook of Sailing to Treasure Island by Captain John C. Voss. at
Patreon.com/slowboatsailing
SAILING TO TREASURE ISLAND: The Cruise of the XORA (Annotated) by Captain J.C. Voss
The paperback at
amazon.com/dp/1790302390
or
lulu.com/shop/captain-jc-voss/sailing-to-treasure-island-the-cruise-of-the-xora/paperback/product-23887731.html
or the eBook at
lulu.com/shop/captain-jc-voss/sailing-to-treasure-island-the-cruise-of-the-xora/ebook/product-23887490.html
or audiobook
audible.com/pd/B07LC35H18/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-136779&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_136779_rh_us
Get the paperback or eBook
Sailing the Ogre: The Log of a Woman Wanderer (Annotated)
by Mabel M. Stock
at
amazon.com/dp/B07MB8BF3C
or the audiobook at Patreon.com/slowboatsailing
or audible
audible.com/pd/B07N7LT2DQ/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-140980&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_140980_rh_us
Senior Associate Producer Calvin Holt
Associate Producers Larry Wilson, Kevin Yager, and Rick Moore (SSL).
Sign up for our free newsletter for access to free books and other promotions at slowboatsailing.com
Copyright Linus Wilson, Oxriver Publishing, Vermilion Advisory Services, LLC, 2019
