Daniel Pinsky, a 35-year-old sailor from the city of Ariel, will join the Golden Globe Race 2026 and become the first Israeli in history to take part in one of the world’s most extreme sailing challenges.
Pinsky will depart from La Rochelle in France for a journey expected to last about 250 days, during which he will sail around the world alone, with no crew and without stopping even once.
The challenge becomes especially extreme due to the race rules, which hark back to the era before modern navigation tools. The sailors are prohibited from using GPS or any electronic navigation devices, and are required to rely only on a sun compass, a standard compass, and paper maps. Communication with the outside world is also limited, and is enabled mainly through satellite devices for sending short text messages.
The Golden Globe Race was first held in 1968, when Robert Knox-Johnston was the only sailor to finish it. The race was revived in 2018 and has been held once every four years since then. In the three previous editions, 43 sailors took part, and only nine of them succeeded in completing the course.
For the current edition, 29 sailors from 12 countries were originally registered, but only 16 will set off. As in the original race, there is no mass start this time as well: after an official ceremonial sail-past, the competitors depart from the Golden Globe Marina one after another, with intervals of about two minutes.
Pinsky will sail on the "Exodus," a 1980 Baba 35 model, which he bought in October of last year and refurbished specifically for the challenge. On the mast will be a sail designed like a huge Israeli flag, a symbol of the mission Pinsky says he wants to carry with him throughout the voyage, and of his desire to represent Israel in the world through a story of achievement and perseverance.
Pinsky’s connection to the sea began at age 14, when he left home and went to study at the Akko naval boarding school. Later, he served in the Israel Navy and combined his seafaring experience with studies in mechanical engineering.
Over the years, he accumulated more than 20,000 nautical miles on voyages in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea. In 2016, he bought "Asterix," an Endurance 38 boat that became his home at sea for nearly a decade. Between 2021 and 2024, he completed a full sailing circuit around the Atlantic Ocean using it.
A day before the start, Pinsky shared his feelings ahead of the moment he had prepared for for a long time. "I wish I had words to describe how I feel from the inside. But I don’t. Mainly it’s seclusion, stress, the need for quiet."
He added, "There’s a lot of noise, a lot happening around me, and I know that tomorrow will be a big day. A day that will probably take me a long time to start processing what happened there, if at all."
Pinsky also thanked Israelis who are supporting him closely and from afar. "I am grateful to all the Israelis who came to be here at the start and to everyone who’s watching from home. I feel like part of a big and sprawling family that gives me enormous backing."
Ahead of the long separation from land and the world he knows, he wrote: "The next time you see me, it will be in another eight months. You will see what changed with me, and I will see what changed in the world I left behind."
In the coming months, it will be possible to follow his progress via the race’s official tracking app, YB Races, and through the official channels of the Golden Globe Race. Pinsky will provide updates from the voyage as sea and communications conditions allow."