Late-comers are more persistent. British sailor Jeanne Socrates first took up sailing as an early retiree. But then she didn’t miss a single degree of longitude on her trips around the world. At 77, she earned the title of oldest person to sail singlehanded, unassisted and nonstop around the five major capes.

In her 80th year, she suffers from nothing that a little fish oil and vitamin D can’t cure. Her next plan is already set: have dinner with friends in Vancouver, then sail from Mexico to Australia.

We spoke with Jeanne Socrates by phone on the occasion of her 80th birthday to hear which new cruise she is currently preparing for.

Jeanne, you were in Australia during the lockdown, right?

Yes. I arrived in 2020 on Valentine’s Day and lived there until March 2022. The boat was in Canada during that time, in Victoria Harbor. It wasn’t moved, which is never good for a boat … friends kept an eye on it.

Have you sailed any longer distances since you’ve been back in Victoria?

Not at all … I’ve been back several months and have been busy every day repairing my boat.

You are getting Nereida ready for the next trip, aren’t you?

Yes, I need to do some work on it. The cabin windows were damaged, instruments need to be replaced, the batteries renewed. I have to go to Vancouver for that now. I’m also putting in new solar panels. When that’s all done, she’ll be wonderful. But until then, it’s still a lot of work.

You’ll be 80 years old on August 17, 2022. What do you have planned?

Almost all my friends live here on Vancouver Island in the Victoria area. Since I have to go to Vancouver for the boat, I’ll have dinner with some friends there.

Next destination: around New Zealand

And then? What is your next goal?

I want to start in Mexico and from there over to New Zealand and Australia. I’ve never sailed around New Zealand. I’ve passed Cook Strait between the North and South Island, but I haven’t been north. So on my way to Australia I want to cruise there a bit.

Jeanne Socrates returns to Victoria harbour in 2019 after 339 days at sea © James Holkko/MMBC

In Australia, I now know some beautiful corners. I’m sure it will be great to sail around there. When I’m there, I’ll decide where I want to continue sailing …

How do you feel physically?

I’m doing this cruise mainly to see how I get along. Before my last circumnavigation in 2017, I broke my neck and rib cage. If I look at the mast, it’s fine, but let’s see what happens when the boat heels over.

Actually, I don’t look at age. But now I have to say 80 is „quite a big number“. So it will be a test cruise. But I don’t completely rule out another circumnavigation. I want to go west. You sail most of the time with the wind and the current towards the tropics.

How long have you been sailing?

I’ve been sailing for a total of 32 years and on a yacht for 28 years, since I was 52.

You are the oldest person to sail around the world (German), at 77, nonstop, solo and unassisted, around all five major capes. Bill Hatfield may have been older in 2020 at 81 when he completed his circumnavigation. But he only circumnavigated three capes. That means you still hold the record.

I think you have to have mastered all five capes for the record – unlike Robin Knox-Johnston who in 1969 only rounded three in the Golden Globe Race.

Jeanne Socrates circumnavigates the world © Jeannefa / CC BY SA 4.0

What drives you to sail singlehanded?

Loneliness doesn’t scare me. I love being on the water and sailing. I also like to sail with friends, enjoy fellowship on board, I am a very social person. But the friends don’t always have time and the trips are then difficult to coordinate.

If I wanted to go on longer trips, I had to sail alone, that was the first lesson. That’s how I became a solo sailor.

There was no advantage in continuing to work

You had a life before sailing, but then retired early. Did you start sailing only when you retired?

No, I started before I retired with my husband. I had the opportunity to learn sailing and he accompanied me. He was 60 and I was 55 when we realized that there would be no financial benefit to us if we kept working.

So we quit at the same time and bought a yacht. We sailed to Sweden and further north, without autopilots and GPS, just by our observations and with charts. Later we went from England down to France to Portugal and further to the Caribbean.

And since when do you sail alone?

My husband died of cancer in 2003. The year before he died, he could no longer help physically in sailing the boat. But he enjoyed being on board and I sailed the boat. The boat was in the Caribbean.