MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/: Russian voyager and survivalist Fedor Konyukhov has finished his solo rowboat voyage on board Akros, crossing the South Pacific from New Zealand to Chile for 154 days 13 hours and 13 minutes, the Ocean Rowing Society said on Friday.
"On May 09, 2019 at approx. 18:00UTC Fedor crossed the finish line of Diego Ramirez Longitude (68.68W) within vicinity of land and with this has officially completed his row across the South Pacific Ocean from west to east," the statement says adding that it took the Russian traveler 154 days 13 hours and 37 minutes to do it.
Fyodor Konyukhov began his solo circumnavigation around the world on a rowing boat on December 6, 2018, setting off from the port of Dunedin in New Zealand. The expedition is divided up into three parts: Dunedin (New Zealand) - Cape Hown (Chile), Cape Horn - Cape Leeuwin (Australia) and Cape Leeuwin - Dunedin. In total, Konyukhov will have to row 16,000 nautical miles (27,000 km).
The rowing boat dubbed Akros, which the voyageur is sailing to circumnavigate the Southern Hemisphere, was designed specifically for the expedition by British engineer Philip Morrison. The nine-meter long boat has water-proof compartments for food storage and three independent systems of producing energy: solar modules, wind generators and a chemical power supply station that uses methanol to produce energy. The boat is also equipped with two types of satellite phones, a satellite tracker and a few duplicate systems of connection and navigation.
So far, Fyodor Konyukhov has sailed around the world five time, crossed the Atlantic Ocean 17 times and became the first Russian to complete the Explorers Grand Slam: he climbed the highest mountains on all seven continents and visited the North Pole and the South Pole. In 2007, Konyukhov circumnavigated the Southern Hemisphere aboard a sailing yacht dubbed the Scarlet Sails when he crossed the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
