Matthew Rutherford (born 1980) is a

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

, best known for his 2011 solo

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...

of the Americas in a 27-foot Albin Vega designed sloop called the ''St. Brendan''.

Circumnavigating the Americas

Rutherford set off from

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

on 13 June 2011, sailing north from the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

. The voyage took Rutherford up the east coast of the USA and Canada. It then took him up the west coast of

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

into

Baffin Bay Baffin Bay (Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; ; ; ), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is sometimes considered a s ...

, to a northerly most point of 75° 21' north before undertaking the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

, becoming the smallest boat ever to successfully undertake the passage. The voyage continued south across the Pacific and around

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

before sailing north in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

back to Annapolis. On 28 August 2011, Rutherford passed

Point Barrow, Alaska Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow). It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at , south of the North Pole. (The northe ...

. Sailing south, Rutherford reached the

equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

on 13 November 2011, having been at sea for 152 days and covering 13,334

nautical miles A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude at the eq ...

. He rounded Cape Horn on 5 January 2012, the 208th day of the voyage. Rutherford returned to Annapolis on 21 April 2012 after 309 days at sea, raising a total of US$120,000 for CRAB.

Film and podcast

Rutherford's circumnavigation of the Americas was the subject of a documentary film by Amy Flannery, titled "Red Dot on the Ocean: The Matt Rutherford Story" made in 2014. Rutherford's voyage has also been the subject of a series of episodes on ''The Explorers Podcast'', which focuses on voyages of exploration through history, and is hosted by Matt Breen. The first of the three Rutherford episodes was released on 7 Feb 2023.

Awards

Matt Rutherford was named the 2021 Young Voyager Award winner by the

Cruising Club of America The Cruising Club of America (CCA) is an international organization of cruisers whose objects are to promote cruising and racing by amateurs, to encourage the development of suitable types of cruising craft, to stimulate interest in seamanship, nav ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutherford, Matt American sailors 1980 births Living people