BLIND sailor Sinto Bestard and his crew on board Snooty Fox yesterday set sail from the Real Club Nautico in Palma for Antarctica.
71 -year-old Sinto will not only be the first blind sailor to make the round trip, but Snooty Fox will become the first Majorcan yacht to have sailed to the ice cap. Sinto, who lost his sight 30 years ago as a result of an operation on cataracts, has invested his life savings in the adventure.
The trip is costing 240.000 euros and, due to the lack of support from the local authorities, Sinto has covered 95 percent of the costs out of his own pocket.
Yesterday, ahead of setting out on their 10.000 mile trip, Sinto said that he and the crew are ready we've been waiting to put to sea since last Saturday, but the poor weather has held us back.
His crew of five, all of whom are expert sailors, includes Sonia Moragues. They hope to complete the round trip within nine months, returning to Palma in June.
Sinto said that they are prepared for extreme weather conditions and freezing cold, but will take the voyage slowly, making the most of the sail down the east coast of South America, before heading to the Falklands, to continually stock up on as much fresh produce as possible in order to remain as fit and healthy as possible for the Antarctic conditions. Yesterday a large crowd, including family and friends, gathered at the yacht club to give Snooty Fox a big send off.