Our aim is to be the first modern vessel to circumnavigate the world with zero emissions. That means no burning of fossil fuels at all, not to power engines, not to cook with and not to generate electricity. A fully electric boat powered entirely by the elements that nature gives us.
This will be a voyage to commemorate the true spirit of discovery and exploration of the Magellan and Elcano expedition of 1519. Captured in HD video and produced as a web series, it will be a testament to human ingenuity and our commitment to the planet, making tomorrow possible today.
One World Protect It
The expedition, driven by Magellan, had not set out to travel all the way around the world. They originally set sail in order to find a new route to the Maluku Islands, and it was thanks to Elcano, following the death of Magellan in the Philippines, that it became one of the greatest voyages of discovery and exploration in our history.
The Spanish expedition to the Spice Islands set sail with 5 ships in 1519, led by Portuguese captain Ferdinand Magellan. The voyage was completed in 1522 by a single carrack, the Victoria, captained by Juan Sebastian Elcano. By continually heading West, they succeeded in circumnavigating the world for the first time, marking a watershed moment in ocean voyages and navigation.
The voyage will follow the historic route sailed by Magellan and Elcano, stopping at most of the places visited by the original expedition. After leaving the UK August 2025, we will head to Puerto Gelves at Seville in Southern Spain for our start in September 2025. Our first stop is in Tenerife, then Cape Verde, then onto Cabo de Santo Agostinho, then Rio de Janeiro, then Montevideo and onto Puerto San Julián before transiting the Magellan Strait. We will make a short stop at Punta Arenas before setting off on the long passage to the island of Puka Puka, in the Cook Islands. From there we continue to Vostok Island before heading to Guam in the Marianna Islands. From there we head to Guiuan and then Limasawa, before arriving at the midway point of the voyage, Cebu City in the Southern Philippines.
Whilst stopped at Cebu we will visit Mactan Island and statues of Magellan and Lapu-Lapu. The statues stand to commemorate the tragic meeting of east and west in this part of the world that resulted in the death of Magellan in 1521 at the hands of the Visayan chief, Lapu-Lapus.
For the rest of the voyage we will be following the path of Juan Sebastian Elcano who took over the command of the expedition after the death of Magellan. Our first stop is at Palawan, then Brunei on the island of Borneo, followed by Tidore, Ambon Island and Timor. We then cross the South Indian Ocean to Port Elizabeth in South Africa. Having passed the Cape of Good Hope, we will turn north, before reaching Ribeira da Barca in the Cape Verde Islands, and then finally back to our starting point in Seville.
The original Elcano Challenge was a project put together by accomplished sailor, author and sailing events organiser, Jimmy Cornell. To commemorate the 500th anniversary of the first round the world voyage, he planned to sail the historic route of the first circumnavigation achieved by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano. Unfortunately that attempt had to be abandoned shortly after its start due to technical issues with power generation aboard his Outremer catamaran pictured here.
We are now taking up the challenge and will have better luck.
The Elcano Challenge / Outremer 4X Custom “Aventura Zero
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