Round Corsica in a boat by a visually handicapped person

On June 16th 2009, at the helm of a 10-metre long rigid-hulled inflatable boat, powered by two 275-horsepower engines, and guided by the voice of his friend Mario Porcel, Luc Costermans set out to accomplish another challenge : sailing all the way around the island of Corsica.
At 5.53, the two men put out to sea from Porticcio, heading for the estuary at Bonifaccio. The sea was calm as the sun rose, but as the boat neared Bonifaccio, the wind got up to force 4 and the sea began to swell to 0,7 metres, making their progression even more difficult in a part of the ocean which was already studded with rocks. Thanks to the experience and expertise of his co-pilot, Mario managed to bring them safely through this tricky passage. They then set out northwards for Cape Corsica, now going along the eastern side of the island, with a swell of 0,50 metres.
After an abortive attempt to stop for fuel at Solenzara (the boat arrived at 8.50, but the petrol station didn’t open until 10.30…), they had to keep going, and filled the boat up at Campo Laro instead. As they neared Cape Corsica, the sea conditions became very tricky, with very deep troughs of waves, and a maximum possible speed of only twelve knots. However, once they had rounded the Cape and were back onto the western side of the island, Luc and Mario once more found optimal sea conditions. They were thus able to race at top speed to Calvi, where their next fuel stop was scheduled. After stopping off here, they set off again on quite a choppy sea towards the Sanguinaires, and finally stepped out of the boat and onto the quayside in Porticcio at 16.19.

Three new records were broken : the distance covered (238 nautical miles), the time spent at the helm (7 hours, 51 minutes and 4 seconds, at an average speed of 30.32 knots ), and the maximum speed achieved (46.8 knots).