The Hoofer Sailing Club is pleased to welcome famed sailor Matt Rutherford to the Memorial Union for an evening of enthusiastic sailing stories including a single handed, non-stop trip around North and South America, founding the Ocean Research Project, and Arctic exploration aboard the Sailing Vessel Marie Tharp.
ABOUT MATT RUTHERFORD:
Matt Rutherford is the first to complete a non-stop, single-handed, voyage around North and South America. Rutherford left Annapolis, MD, in June 2011 and traversed some of the most dangerous seas on Earth. Once through this northern passage, Rutherford sailed around the entire state of Alaska, then south through the Pacific Ocean from North to South America to make his left-hand turn at storm-tossed Cape Horn and completing his record-breaking journey in 309 days after sailing 27,077 miles at sea. This voyage was documented in the film "Red Dot on the Ocean".
Once Matt returned from his circumnavigation, he immediately started working on starting a non-profit organization, Ocean Research Project, that would help scientists better understand the problems facing the oceans. The team spent 70 days mapping the eastern side of the North Atlantic garbage patch and collecting plastic debris samples. The following year, ORP undertook a groundbreaking 6,800-mile nonstop voyage, to study microplastic pollution in the Pacific. ORP has sailed to the fjords of Greenland and the Arctic multiple times charting uncharted sea floors, tracking glacial melt, carbon retention, and sea level rise. All ORP research is done from a 72' steel schooner sailboat, RV Marie Tharp, where Matt is also the captain.
Matt can be heard on his weekly podcast “Single Handed” where he shares about recent experiences and upcoming voyages.
Full Movie: Red Dot on the Ocean: The Matt Rutherford Story
