Skipper Daniel Pinsky made history on Sunday as the first Israeli to take part in the 2026 Golden Globe Race, considered one of the most grueling competitions in the world.
The race, limited to 30 lone sailors, involves non-stop sailing around the world for 250 consecutive days, and prohibits digital navigation tools or outside assistance.
As mentioned on its website, the competition “stands as the longest, loneliest, slowest, most daring challenge for an individual in any sport.”
Pinsky, a 35-year-old resident of the city of Ariel, departed from the port of Les Sables-d’Olonne in western France, sailing through the race’s route circling the Five Great Capes—Chile’s Cape Horn, South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, Australia’s Cape Leeuwin, Australia’s South East Cape, and Australia’s South West Cape.
“After months of preparations, repairs, crossings, inspections, exhaustion, questions, decisions, and one day chasing another, Exodus and I are standing on the starting line of the 2026 Golden Globe Race,” Pinsky wrote in Hebrew on Facebook to his 30,000 followers before the race kicked off, referencing the name of his boat.
“A solo race around the world. No stops. No assistance. No GPS. None of most of the technology we rely on today. Just me, the boat, maps, a sextant, the wind, and a whole lot of ocean—for about nine months,” he continued.
Pinsky first started sailing at 14 when he left home to study at the Maritime Boarding School in Acre, where he progressed from dinghies to offshore training yachts before earning his skipper’s license.
After finishing his service in the Israeli Navy’s Coast Guard, Pinsky combined his maritime background with mechanical engineering studies and civilian port work, while continuing to sail extensively throughout the eastern Mediterranean.
Between 2021 and 2024, he completed a full Atlantic circuit aboard Asterix, a boat that he purchased in 2016. He sailed from Israel through the Mediterranean to the Caribbean, Central and South America, and back to Europe—mentoring other aspiring cruisers along the way.
Ahead of the Golden Globe Race, Pinsky purchased a Baba 35 boat built in 1980, named Exodus.
‘I choose to live my life fully and honestly’
The competition takes place every four years and was originally launched in 1968.
Its rules stipulate that skippers “must sail in production boats between 32ft and 36ft overall designed prior to 1988 that have a full-length keel with rudder attached to their trailing edge.”
These sturdy boats are modeled after the 32ft vessel used by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, a British sailor who in 1969 became the first person to perform a single-handed non-stop navigation of the globe.
The competitors can be tracked online in real-time via the YB Race Tracker app.
Referencing the ongoing war in Israel over the past three years, Pinsky writes on his personal website, “None of us knows when our time will come. That is why I choose to live my life fully and honestly and to pursue my dreams even when they seem a little crazy. A life with color, with meaning, with stories worth telling.”
He further adds, “A voice of hope, of adventure, of dreams being realized. I want that when Israel is mentioned around the world, it will not be only in the context of war, but also through moments of inspiration, courage, and human achievement such as the Golden Globe Race.”
