On Sunday, Nándor Fa celebrates his seventieth birthday, the first Hungarian who circumnavigated the Earth alone by sailing, and circumnavigated the planet five times, three times alone.
Nándor Fa was born on July 9, 1953 in Székesfehérvár. He came into contact with sports early: he wrestled between the ages of 11 and 17, then due to an injury he started kayaking in Köfém SC in Székesfehérvár and sailing from 1979. He became a selected member of the squad with his own Finnding boat, and later competed in the S-jolle and then the laser boat class.
In 1986-1987, he was the first Hungarian to circumnavigate the Earth with the 31-foot-long Szent Jupát sailboat he built with his friend József Gál.
They capsized once in the Indian Ocean, and although they made it through the adventure with one skin intact, they spent nearly half a year in Sydney until the damaged ship was repaired. Then they went around Cape Horn, the "Mount Everest" of sailboats, capsized again in the Atlantic Ocean, and finally arrived back in Opatija. The book The 700 Days of St. Jupát was published in 1988 about this journey.
He then designed and built the 60-foot Alba Regia, which he competed in the 1990-1991 BOC Challenge four-leg, single-person circumnavigation. However, he was unlucky, he suffered a broken rudder and, earning great recognition in professional circles, he sailed without a rudder to the port of Port Elizabeth in South Africa, two thousand kilometers away, from where he resumed the race after the repair work. Even so, he finished in eleventh place and received a professional special award.
Reflecting on his experience, he decided in 1992 to compete in the non-stop round-the-world Vendeé Globe held every four years. In the world's most difficult sailing race, all competitors have to make the journey without moorings or outside help, relying only on regular radio meteorology. They must touch the designated crossing points, but beyond that, everyone is free to choose their route.
Nándor Fa, the only starter from a non-landlocked country, covered the approximately 36,000 kilometers with the Alba Regia in 128 days and 20 hours.
As the best non-Frenchman, he finished in fifth place, and he also became the first Hungarian to circumnavigate the Earth without restrictions.
He then built his second 60-foot racing boat, the Budapest, with which he competed as an invitee in the 1996-1997 Vendeé Globe. Although he was among the top contenders, he had to abandon the race due to numerous technical problems and a series of unfortunate events. In 1997, he came fourth in the Transat Jacques Vabre (TJV) trans-Atlantic double race alongside the Spanish Albert Bargués.
After his retirement, he engaged in his own business, specializing in the design and construction of ports consisting of floating point systems. He didn't completely break away from racing either. In 2001, he created the solo Balaton-Kerülő competition, in which he later started and won in 2010.
In 2012, he felt that he still had "things to do" with the sea, so he built his third racing boat, the Spirit of Hungary.
In 2014, he started the Barcelona World Race with Conrad Colman from New Zealand, the distance was completed in 110 days, 10 hours, 59 minutes and 40 seconds. In 2015, he participated in the Transat Jacques Vabre sailing race with Péter Perényi, but the race was abandoned due to a broken mast. In 2016 - as the oldest competitor - he started the Vendée Globe for the third time, finishing eighth at 93 days 22 hours 52 minutes and 9 seconds.
Two days after reaching the finish line, on February 10, 2017, he announced his retirement.
Nándor Fa, who tries to pass on his knowledge and experience, will start the 50th Rolex Fastnet race of 608 nautical miles (1126 km) with Weöres Szabolcc, who is preparing for the Vendée Globe, this July, a few days after his seventieth birthday. Szabolcs Weöres wants to follow in the footsteps of his mentor and become the second Hungarian to start in the world's most difficult race, the 10th Vendée Globe starting in November 2024.
Nándor Fa was president of the Club of the Obsessed for eleven years from 1993. In 2017, his autobiographical volume Magad, uram . In 2018, he was elected honorary president of the Hungarian Sailing Association, and in the same year he became a member of the Immortal Hungarian Sportsmen's Association.
In 1993, his sporting achievements were recognized with the civilian grade of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic, and he was elected an honorary citizen of Székesfehérvár.
In 1995, he received the Sports Glory Award, and in 2004, the Special Award of the National Sports Association. In 2017, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit (civil category), and in 2017 he received the Hungarian Heritage Award and the Fair Play Lifetime Achievement Award.
Featured image: MTI
