British skipper Ertan Beskardes is now mid-way through a 2,000 mile solo sailing trial aboard his Rustler 36 yacht LAZY OTTER from Sardinia to Falmouth
Ertan Beskardes is a Turkish born British national who began sailing on the Bosphorus at the age of 12. He came to the UK in 1979 and made a career in military tailoring and regalia, before setting up his own company with his wife in Bournemouth in 1994. There, they built a boat in the back garden and have been sailing regularly in nearby Christchurch harbour since 1998. As their children grew up he graduated first to a Drascombe Cruiser Longboat, then a Parker 235 cruising yacht before buying a Jeanneau Odyssey 33 in 2012, sailing each year-round. Ertan had planned to sail singlehanded to the Azores, taking part in the Jester Challenge race once, and twice on his own accord only to be thwarted each time either by limited time or bad weather.
He says: “I have always been self-employed and always wanted to do something special like sail around the world. I first learned about the Golden Globe Race on Facebook in 2017 and thought to enter the second race in 2022, but then learned that there were places available for the 2018 event. I quickly found a Rustler 36 in Sardinia and have been preparing her for the race ever since.”
