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Circumnavigation
What's so special about this very unique word?
Guinness World Records,
which is an independent arbiter of all records, requires that an around-the-world surface journey must:
- start and finish at the same location,
- cross the Equator,
- cross all lines of longitude,
- resume each leg of the journey from the exact point at which the last one ended,
- cover a minimum distance equal to that of the Tropic of Capricorn, which is 36,788km and
- proceed in one direction, east or west, any distance doubled back must be deducted from the total.
Guinness recognizes that a circumnavigation by surface travel is a unique
around-the-world journey, which must also include at least one pair of antipodal points.
A basic definition of a world circumnavigation would be a route which covers at least a great circle, and in
particular one which passes through at least one pair of points antipodal to each other. The center of a great circle is the
same as that of the earth. For example, the longitudes are on great circles, and the Equator is the latitude which
defines the longest great circle given the earth's shape. Other lines of latitude which are shorter are not great
circles, because their centers do not match that of the Earth. Great circles divide the earth into two equal
hemispheres.
The corollaries to all of the above descriptions are that a true circumnavigation route should:
- cross the Equator at a minimum of two points,
- touch at least one pair of antipodes,
- likely travel a distance that is equal to or more than the length of the Equator,
- make an honest effort to approximate a great circle,
- show equal effort in two opposite hemispheres respectively.
Given the above gentlemen's rules, it is understood that when a circumnavigation route is laid out, practical
constraints have to be acknowledged depending on the mode of travel. On the other hand, if a legitimate
circumnavigation route is possible, anything less than that cannot be called a circumnavigation.
Six Summits Project will achieve a human powered circumnavigation:
Precedent - Surface Travel (human powered): Steven Strange from England holds
the current Guinness record certificate for a "circumnavigation by bicycle." Steven has the rules for circumnavigation
by bicycle spelled out on his site which include reaching a pair of antipodes. Steven started his bicycle ride
on May 9, 2004 in Vancouver and 276 days later, finished his circumnavigation at the same place on February 13, 2005.
Steven took plane rides across the oceans.
Another British man Alastair Humphreys recently
completed a unique circumnavigation journey. Alastair crossed the oceans by boating, and he bicycled while on land. By
the time that he had returned back to İstanbul in September 2005 closing the knot, he had covered 69,000 km.
Alastair chose to bicycle another 3,000 km all the way to England to conclude his journey.
Karl Bushby (British) of Goliath Expedition started
his journey on foot on November 1st, 1998 in the Chilean town of Punta Arenas. Karl walked northwards through South America,
Central and North America, before crossing from Alaska into Siberia, using the semi-frozen Arctic waters of the Bering Strait.
With this achievement, Karl and his partner Dimitri Kieffer became the first modern men to walk across the Bering Straits.
Karl's journey will continue westwards through Siberia, down to Russia’s southern border, across Asia and Europe. The
finish will be (pending authorization) through the Channel Tunnel and into the United Kingdom. Karl's walk will be
a "walk around-the-world" because his route crossed the Equator and Karl will have covered a distance of 36,000 miles
in excess of the length of the Tropic of Capricorn. Should Karl go through the town of Irkutsk which is the antipode
to his starting point Punta Arenas, then Karl will have achieved a "circumnavigation by walking."
Currently there is only one person in contention for the first human powered
circumnavigation, having met all requirements: Jason Lewis (British) of Expedition 360. Jason has crossed the Equator twice, and has
already reached the Australian antipode to his route across the Atlantic. Jason is now on the return trip
to his home in England on this "circumnavigation by human power," and he is demonstrating to the rest of us that
a TRUE Human
Powered Circumnavigation is possible.
Precedent - Surface Travel (the hard way): Sir Ranulph Fiennes and his team successfully completed Transglobe in 1982 after
over two years of work. Transglobe was the first polar circumnavigation by surface travel, touching the
two poles of the earth, which are true antipodes by definition. The story of this journey is told in the
book: "To the Ends of the Earth." This expedition did not even have to cross all meridians...
Precedent - Surface Travel (sailing): Sailors typically navigate the interconnected bodies of
open water around the world. Many prominent sailing races, including the Vendée Globe, leave from
Europe, travel into the South Atlantic, then follow an easterly heading around Antarctica, clearing
Cape of Good Hope (tip of South Africa), then Cape Horn (tip of South America) respectively, eventually
returning back north to Europe.
The World Speed Sailing Record Council requires that an "Around the World" sailing record claim must
have crossed the Equator. Rule 26(a) in "the courses offshore" section of the WSSRC
Rules Book is quoted below:
"Around the World, eastbound and westbound"
"To sail around the World, a vessel must start from and return to the same point, must cross all
meridians of longitude and must cross the Equator. It may cross some but not all meridians more
than once (i.e. two roundings of Antarctica do not count). The shortest orthodromic track of the
vessel must be at least 21,600 nautical miles in length calculated based on a 'perfect sphere'. In
calculating this distance, it is to be assumed that the vessel will sail around Antarctica in
latitude 63 degrees south. A vessel starting in the Southern Hemisphere has to round an island or
other fixed point in the Northern Hemisphere but only once that will satisfy the minimum distance
requirement."
Currently, there is an expedition underway by Adrian Flanagan, who is attempting a solo circumnavigation
by sailing westward in the Arctic Ocean after crossing the Bering Straits.
Precedent - Exclusively For Flights (ballooning): Due to meteorological laws, hot air or helium
balloons are dependent on the prevailing winds in the atmosphere to travel around the world. The eastbound
jetstream in the southern hemisphere is an example of such winds. Steve Fossett in his historic first
around-the-world balloon flight in the summer of 2002, launched "Bud Light Spirit of Freedom" from Australia,
drifting east over the Pacific, South America, South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. His flight took him
back across the same longitude he had started over Australia to be complete.
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)
has defined the around-the-world
flight rules specifically for "Class A: Free Balloons" and "Class B: Airships," the latter of which includes blimps.
When such a flight crosses all longitudes, covers a distance which is at least half that of the circumference of the
equator, eventually crossing the same longitude where it started, then it is considered an around the world flight.
Needless to say, these rules are exclusively for aerial journeys.
FAI never uses the unique expression circumnavigation in its "around-the-world-flight" definition,
and never pretends to offer this ruling for any other application (as in surface journeys). FAI has stated in
writing that they will not take a position on records by surface travel. FAI does not enforce an antipodal requirement by this
around-the-world flight definition, nor does it expect pilots to cross the equator, recognizing the
meteorological laws.
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