One-time mechanic, commercial diver, and skipper Daniel Alfredsson shares how he's preparing to sail around the world solo, nonstop, and unassisted for the 2026 Golden Globe Race.
Swedish/Norwegian sailor Daniel Alfredsson is getting ready to sail around the world again.
He and the other 2026 Golden Globe Race skippers have a ways to go before they set off from Les Sables d’Olonnes in September for a solo, nonstop, and unassisted circumnavigation by sextant, but Alfredsson is used to facing challenges head-on.
Like many sailing stories, his started with a step into the unknown.
Originally a mechanic, then a commercial diver, Alfredsson started dreaming of the sea after reading books about cruising around the world while working on a dive boat off Norway’s west coast.
Two years later he bought his first sailboat, an Alo 33. He left Bergen, Norway in August of 2008 to cruise around the world solo, despite only having a handful of inshore experience under his belt. While the learning curve was steep, he has said, the experience was transformative.
By the time he returned to Norway in July of 2012 with empty fuel tanks, an empty bank account, and 35,000 miles under his belt, he had a new perspective on sailing and different motivations for being at sea than he started with.
Instead of being a means of transportation, a way to get from point A to point B, over the course of his circumnavigation sailing had become an end in of itself. Alfredsson found himself inventing ways to prolong his time at sea, skipping stopovers just to keep sailing.
It was a book that once again prompted the next step in his sailing journey, ultimately leading him to the Golden Globe.
Skipper Daniel Alfredsson’s OE32, Pale Blue Dot, with which he will enter the 2026 Golden Globe Race. Photo by Daniel Alfredsson.
After reading Sir Robin Knox-Johnston‘s classic account A World of My Own, Alfredsson to set his sights on the Golden Globe Race.
‘I got pulled in while following the 2018 and 2022 races,’ Alfredsson explains. ‘[The 2026] edition came up at the right time, and it was a kick in the butt to get going. When the application opened, I jumped on the gun and signed up. I remember sitting up all night writing. I thought it would fill up in the first few days!’
The people willing and able to undertake a non-stop circumnavigation, sailing solo and by sextant, turned out to be a bit smaller of a pool. Currently, 24 provisional entrants are currently preparing to depart from Les Sables D’Olonnes in September.
‘It’s inspiring to share the adventure with likeminded people.’ Alfredsson says. The 2026 Golden Globe Race cohort has turned out to be, ‘A very interesting group, full of cool people from all walks of life. I hope we all make it to the start. Several have already retired so far. Getting to the start is no walk in the park.’
Daniel Alfredsson with project managers Simon Møllerstrøm and Stina Melin and audio visual agent Malin Moldeklev Meinhold beside Pale Blue Dot. Photo by Daniel Alfredsson.
In preparation for the race’s reliance on traditional navigation, he started learning celestial navigation last year with the help of YouTube and lots of reading.
‘Once I cracked the code, I made my own step by step procedure,’ he says. ‘I’m doing ok, but it remains to be seen how that will translate to real navigation in the GGR.’
Across the board, he’s keenly aware of the potential gap between theory and practice, and says that even though it is one of his biggest concerns, ‘The Southern Ocean weather is something I have only read about.’
‘I’m self taught, so I don’t know what I don’t know. I will do my very best to sail well without risking too much.’
Regarding storm tactics, he adds, ‘I have a main plan and some backup plans. Running with the storm seams to be what most people do, maybe that will be me as well one day. But I hope I will have a safer option. I don’t think running before a massive storm is the safest, but so far I don’t have enough experience to really say. I have a few things I can drag behind the boat. I have tested different things behind a 200hp speed boat to see how they behave and how much drag they create.’
Whatever the challenge, Alfredsson says his work as a commercial diver has helped shape his approach to handling challenges while alone at sea by preparing him to manage and minimise risk during a solo circumnavigation. He intends to keep his approach slow, deliberate, and safe during the race.
Skipper Daniel Alfredsson in front of Pale Blue Dot, an OE32 he will sail in the 2026 Golden Globe Race. Photo by Daniel Alfredsson.
At the moment, Alfredsson says preparing his Olle Enderlein 32, Pale Blue Dot, gets most of his attention.
‘Then I have just enough energy left over to do my job without getting fired. I do remember one afternoon in the beginning of last year that I had all to myself, sadly I fell asleep and missed it!’ he jokes.
He looked at other boats, including the Cape Dory 36, before he found the OE32 close by and at a fair enough price to seal the deal.
‘I didn’t know much about the OE32 when I bought it. Now it’s my favourite of all boats I have owned so far,’ he comments. With 45.8 square metres of sail area, ‘For its size, it’s the fastest boat in the race, no doubt. But (and its a big but!) it’s also the absolute smallest of them all,’ at 9.89m LOA.
The boat, designed by Olle Enderline in 1973 and built by Sundsörs Ship Yard in Oxelösund, Sweden in 1988, is a classic Swedish double-ender with a cutter rig and a bowsprit. Her long-keel design trades upwind performance for extra stability.
‘I’ll gladly trade a bit of performance for seakeeping abilities in the middle of a gale in the Southern Ocean,’ Alfredsson explains.
2026 Golden Globe entrant Isa Rosli will also be on a OE32 called Oleanna, which was skippered by Jeremy Bagshaw in the 2022/23 and by Are Wiig in 2018/2019 races.
Pale Blue Dot is named for a speech by American astronomer Carl Sagan by the same title.
‘In that speech he takes a zoomed out look at all humans (sometimes troublesome) activities here on Earth,’ Alfredsson writes in a Facebook post. His own boat, with its hull of the same hue, ‘Will be like a speck of dust on the vast ocean. A pale blue dot.’
Olleanna is a long keeled OE32, and was the smallest boat in the 2022 Golden Globe Race fleet. Credit: D&JJ/GGR 2022.
Alfredsson started a major refit in the winter of 2023 by replacing the engine and strengthening some parts of the boat. He fully glassed it in a thicker plywood sheet and tabbed the interior to the hull, he explains in a video tour of his modifications. He also added the collision bulkhead to the bow, as required by Golden Globe Race regulations, which he plans to fill with bottles and foam.
He further divided Pale Blue Dot into seven watertight areas, including a partial wall well above the waterline between the bow, where he will store his sails, and the main cabin, and other watertight partitions within the saloon itself. Some seal their compartments completely, while others sit about 50-80 cm above the waterline.
Waterproof curtains fashioned from an old cockpit tent now isolate the companionway to keep foul weather gear, rain, and spray away from the chart table.
‘I hope to keep my bed dry,’ Alfredsson says. ‘That would be a first.’
He has also added a 360 degree lookout bubble, improved the washboards, and strengthened the windows by adding layers of fibreglass to the surrounding area, replacing the panes with 10mm plexiglass, and sealing them with a combination of 3m VHB tape and Dow silicon.
Otherwise he’s kept it minimal, stating, ‘I try to have a non-cluttered, simple deck layout.’
Still, when it comes to equipment failure, he says he prefers redundancy over having a spare part wherever possible, commenting, ‘I’d rather have a extra bilge pump installed, ready to go, rather then having a spare in a place I forgot about.’
In a video tour of his onboard modifications, Alfredsson also shows off the full porcelain toilet he installed in his head, explaining that some adopt the bucket-and-chuck-it method to save weight. Despite his background as a camper, the spartan solution isn’t to his taste.
‘People have asked if I’m competitive, or if I’m just looking to get around. I’m not this competitive,’ he says, holding up a bucket, ‘I can guarantee you that. But I will try to do my best.’
Skipper Daniel Alfredsson’s OE32, Pale Blue Dot, with which he will enter the 2026 Golden Globe Race. Photo by Daniel Alfredsson.
There’s a ways to go before Pale Blue Dot makes it to the start line in Les Sables D’Olonnes in September, but Alfredsson says he’s itching to go. His biggest concern, at the moment, is missing the start by a small margin, due to illness or a minor failure.
As for what he’s most looking forward to?
‘Being finished with all administration and boat work, and to be on the sea without a stupid “smart” phone!’
Quick facts: Daniel Alfredsson / Pale Blue Dot
Sail plan?
Upwind sails for both upwind and downwind. Asymetric spinnaker and gennaker for reaching, all from Rolly Tasker Sails.
Furler or hank on?
Both. Furlers in front and on staysail. Solent hank on stay behind the furling genoa.
Self-steering set up?
Hydrovane, and I’m also working on my own DIY trimtab windvane system as a backup.
Antifouling?
Coppercoat.
Three unexpected items you’ll take onboard:
- Sports tape to tape my mouth shut while sleeping.
- The Epic of Gilgamesh
- Wavebreaker 2000 (top secret of course!)
Enjoyed reading this profile of Golden Globe Race skipper Daniel Alfredsson?
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