Catalan sailor Dani Anglada Pich, blind and utterly undaunted, became the first person to circumnavigate the Isle of Wight solo and unaided—without sight, without a rudder, without a boom, and without even a centreboard. Just one man and his Patí Català, the sleek but stubborn rudderless catamaran more often seen on Barcelona beaches than off the headlands of the Solent. The start was straight from a naval novel: cannon fire from the Royal Yacht Squadron signalled the off, courtesy of RYS Secretary Patricia Lewington.