My Life with Pat Lawless: The 70-year-old Irish sailor taking on a 30,000-mile solo race

The Kerry sailor will spend nine months at sea without modern navigation as he raises funds for Parkinson’s Ireland

Grandfather Pat Lawless from West Kerry who is currently competing in the 2026 Golden Globe Race

I was just 12 years old when I built my first boat. I’ll never forget how the finished product looked. Like any punt, it had a long, narrow, flat-bottom, complete with square ends. While my father equipped me with the materials for the project, I constructed the boat alone. It consisted of oil tempered hardboard but the sides were just ordinary timber.

At 12 foot by four foot in size, the vessel was entirely homemade. Nonetheless, I was able to make it up and down the Shannon quite easily. It was while sailing in these parts that I began to dream about travelling around the world this way single-handedly. I think that’s what plunged me down the rabbit hole of where I am now as I prepare to compete in the 2026 edition of the Golden Globe Race (GGR). I’ll be covering 30,000 miles over the course of around nine months.