Craig Wood

In the second quarter of 2025, Craig Wood completed a feat few thought possible as a triple-amputee: a solo, non-stop, unsupported crossing of the Pacific Ocean (indeed, of any ocean) in a sailing yacht.

Having departed Puerto Vallarta, Mexico at 1645UTC on 25 March he arrived in Hiroshima, Japan at 0001UTC on 24 June, a total of 7,506nm sailed in 90 days. As the first person ever to do this, Craig’s achievement has been recognised by Guinness World Records.

In 2009, aged just 18, Craig lost both his legs and his left hand when he was blown up by an Improvised Explosive Device whilst serving as a British Army rifleman on deployment in Afghanistan. Recovery was a long process, including four years of rehab learning how to walk again. A major part of his recovery journey was returning to sailing, the hobby to which his father had introduced him as a child. “It helped me realise that anything is possible”.

Despite the rigours of the passage, Craig still found time to mentor a friend who had recently bought a boat; cultivated a tomato plant; made pies, pizza and bread for burgers from scratch; and enjoyed watching the changing natural world. He cites some of the highs of his passage as “seeing whales as I left Mexico, sailing under the stars with bioluminescence behind me and seeing my first ever lunar rainbow”.