Jazz Turner, Project Fear, Circumnavigating Britain and Ireland

Jaz races in the Hanse 303 and RS Venture Connect SCS classes, and sails an Albin Vega 27, in which she recently became the first wheelchair user to sail solo and unassisted around Great Britain and Ireland, and doing so confronted and overcame great difficulties. She lives with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome,  which means her connective tissue does not function properly, and this also effects her internal organs, and her condition is terminal. Regardless, Jaz is now preparing to compete in the 2026 Worldstar, in which she will attempt to sail solo nonstop unassisted around the world.

We talk about her introduction to sailing on a cold wet day in the Cornish Harbor, her obsession with the ocean, growing up with a difficult home situation, being homeless as a child and living on the street, then sleeping in the boats at the sailing club, dealing with fear, living on a shorter time line, finding a new family, comparing the Albin Vega to performance boats, heaving-to, sleeping while solo, hallucinations, breakages, preventers, Project Fear, how the circumnavigation of Britain and Ireland changed her, the extents of her mobility, foul-weather gear, beautiful moments, wildlife, running aground 50 nm from the finish and kedging off, the WorldStar 2026, and more.

Photos and links are on the podcast shownotes page

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