Beto Pandiani, 66 years old, sailor.

 

Entertainment entrepreneur and former partner in restaurants and bars in São Paulo (AEROANTA, Singapore Sling, Olivia, Mr. Fish, Clube Base, Lounge and U Turn), Beto Pandiani began to take his hobby – sailing – more seriously in 1983. In 1989, he won the title of North American Hobiecat 16 champion in Chicago, United States. As time went by, he began to face a dilemma, as he no longer wanted to work at night.

It was in 1993 that he decided to change his profession. And so, in 1994, his first and longest expedition took place, "Entre Trópicos", from Miami (USA) to Ilhabela (Brazil), which lasted 289 days and took four sailors on two 21-foot catamarans without cabins.

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In 2000, Beto Pandiani set off on his second long expedition, the “Rota Austral”, again in two 21-foot Hobiecats.

 

The “Rota Austral” began in Puerto Montt, Chile, sailing around the entire southern coast of the South American continent, rounding Cape Horn – the high point of the expedition – and then continued on for another four months along the Argentine coast and the entire southern region of Brazil, until reaching the final destination, Guanabara Bay, in Rio de Janeiro, in April 2001.

 

The “Drake Crossing”, carried out in 2003, was Beto Pandiani’s third expedition. The sailors set off from Ushuaia and crossed the passage between South America and Antarctica, known for having over 80 shipwrecks at the bottom of its waters. The expedition lasted 45 days and with it Beto Pandiani and Duncan Ross became the first sailors to reach the Antarctic Peninsula in a boat without a cabin.

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After the expeditions, Beto took on the “Atlantic 1,000” regatta in 2004. The regatta is known for being the longest and most difficult in the world for catamarans without a cabin. It covers a thousand miles of the American coast, going from Florida to North Carolina. After 12 days on the water, Beto and Duncan took second place.

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In the “Boreal Route”, in 2005, Beto Pandiani spent three months sailing from New York to Sisimiut, in Greenland. On this trip, the sailors had the support of a motor home that accompanied them overland from New York to the end of the roads in northern Canada. Starting from Labrador, on the coast of Canada, the duo was accompanied by Kotic II, a boat captained by Oleg Bely, father of Igor Bely, Pandiani's companion on the “Crossing the Pacific”. The support was necessary because the weather conditions in the polar region are not only unstable but also violent.

 

The travel reports written by Pandiani and the photographic records of the route, taken by Maristela Colucci, were compiled in the book "Rota Boreal, Expedição ao Círculo Polar Ártico".

 

The longest of all the trips was made between 2007 and 2008. Together with Igor Bely, Beto crossed the Pacific Ocean from Chile to Australia. It took months of travel counting the stops and after sailing 17,000 kilometers in a boat without a cabin, they were the first sailors in the world to cross the South Pacific in a small, open boat.

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In 2013, Beto and Igor returned to the sea and crossed the Atlantic Ocean, leaving Capetown and arriving in Ilhabela without stopping. It was the first trip without land on the way and they sailed for 37 days.

 

In 2022, together with Igor Bely, they crossed the legendary Northwest Passage, above the Arctic Circle, passing over Canada and skirting the Polar Ice Cap. The result was the production of a documentary about climate change in the region.

 

It is worth remembering that all the trips were unprecedented and unique.

The other trips also gave rise to the books “Rota Austral” and “Travessia do Drake”, “Rota Boreal”, “Entre Trópicos”, Travessia do Pacífico and Atlântico- Travessias, as well as the film “Travessia do Pacífico”.

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At the end of these eight voyages, Beto Pandiani became the first sailor to

connect Antarctica to the Arctic in a small boat without a cabin. As he himself likes to emphasize, the feat was absolutely collective.

 

In July 2009, the storybook O mar é minha terra was released, a work that uses as its guiding thread the logbook of the Pacific Crossing – his most recent and longest voyage – in which sailor Beto Pandiani recalls unmissable passages from his five previous journeys and recovers much of his personal history, covering moments from his childhood, youth and maturity.

 

The experience acquired by Beto throughout all these expeditions has transformed him into a distinguished speaker. In his lectures, he discusses logistics, decision-making, risk management, emotional and physical preparation, overcoming limits and teamwork, how to relate to others in an unfavorable environment and other aspects pertinent to the endeavors.

Also in 2023, the Polar Route Documentary was released, as well as a photo book about the same trip, and a children's book entitled Nas Terras dos Ventos, which will be released soon.

 

A documentary is being produced as a series telling the entire story of the saga of the eight voyages: "The Sea Is My Land".