Tapio Lehtinen is a lifetime sailor and
keenly in love with the Oceans of the World.
Tapio’s first circumnavigation took place in 1981, as he participated in the Whitbread Round the World Race as the watch captain onboard Skopbank of Finland. The second round was the Golden Globe Race 2018, in which he finished 5th. Thousands of barnacles stuck to the bottom of his boat made the journey arduous. Still, with the true Finnish spirit, Tapio sailed and crossed the finish line and became the first Finn to have raced single-handed nonstop around the world.
It’s fair to say the first GGR competition left Tapio with a bone to pick with the barnacles. He wanted to give himself and her beloved Asteria boat another chance, and in September 2022, he started the Golden Globe Race 2022, ready to fight for victory seriously. Everything was going smoothly, and Tapio was sailing second in the race. But then, on Friday, 18th November 2022, dramatic news reached us: Asteria had suddenly sunk. Tapio spent about a day on the life raft, after which his fellow competitor Kirsten Neuschäfer rescued him to her boat. From Kirsten’s boat, Tapio boarded the cargo ship Darya Gayatri, which took him to Indonesia and finally back home.
His following big race was in 2023 Ocean Globe Race 2023, the 50th-anniversary race of Whitbread, which was first sailed in 1973. Like the GGR, the OGR is sailed with traditional boats and methods. For this race, Tapio gathered a group of next-generation ocean sailors. Their boat was the classic Swan 55 yawl, Galiana, which the team prepared for the round-the-world sailing that started in September 2023.
On my voyages around the world, I have witnessed firsthand how nature has changed. The biodiversity has narrowed and continues to do so; there are fewer birds, fewer fish, fewer sea mammals. All the trash in the sea and the smog above the shipping routes are giving a strong signal.
As someone who loves nature and the sea, and also speaking as a grandfather, I want to take action to preserve this beautiful planet for generations to come. In my future projects, I want to work in cooperation with companies and organizations that are part of the solution, not part of the problem. I want to promote innovations, concrete solutions, and ways as to what we can do, to keep our planet clean, diverse, and viable.
We still have time to put it right!
The Call of the Ocean is a documentary film about
Tapio's first Golden Globe Race in 2018-19
Don McIntyre talks about Tapio's coming projects
"Tapion Aava" is a short film that sheds light on the man behind sailing.
Tapio's Book is Available Now!
Last year, when I was in Panama, Tapio Lehtinen asked if I would help him with this book, mainly smoothing out his English. I was honored to be asked, and soon I was not only editing, but converting third-person past tense to first person present tense. Then I asked for his ship's logs and started adding to the story, doubling its length. I was engrossed in the writing at this point, and felt like I was sailing around the world in the Southern Ocean, alone in a 36' boat, but handling the cold and violent seas like a seasoned veteran of the ocean. This is how I hope you will feel when you read it.
– Paul Trammell
Hear the full story from the man himself!
Tapio is an inspiring speaker for your event.
A successful career as an Industrial Engineer with experience in strategic planning and leading teams in various organisations. Life-long sailor with two circumnavigations done and two more planned. He’s been around, so to speak. With respect to the current state of the world, Tapio sure knows something about being remote, alone, and isolated.
Always be prepared for the worst. Be scared beforehand, so that you don’t have to be when the going gets tough. Trusting your team, sharing common goals, adapting to new challenges, and finally making your dreams a reality. These are just some of the themes Tapio will be touching on. Not to forget his first-hand experience on the global state of the environment. Tapio has devoted his future to the future of our common planet.
The presentation can be delivered in English, Finnish, or Swedish.
Contact: tapio.a.lehtinen@gmail.com, +358 40 049 5678
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Tapio participated in our corporate event in the Nuuksio National Park in the middle of the corona year. The theme was "Encountering", and Tapio's attendance led us wonderfully to the right mood. The stunning story about sailing alone around the world, and the importance of nature for the lives of us all, as well as Tapio’s delicate way to be present, really inspired the participants. The positive feedback was enormous.
Linda Capelletti / Sherpa
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Tapio’s touching introduction to the passion for sailing, dreams, and overcoming adversity was a fantastic beginning and tune-up into our staff’s strategy day. I warmly recommend Tapio!
Kirsi Paakkari, Kalevala Koru
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The mythical sea, wild nature, and man - Tapio's vivid description of a unique sea voyage was both amusing and touching. Exactly the right kind of kick-off for our company's inspiration days!
Yrjö Nieminen, Vallilan Vaara oy
While we are working already for the second week on the English translations of our GGR 2022 and OGR 2023 books in Bocas del Toro, Panama, Paul Trammel also has the time for the occasional podcast done from the saloon of Windflower with help of Starlink.
Every morning in the dark he disappears with the dinghy to the nearby reefs for his daily session of surfing, pics from today.
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A fantastic memory from the start from the City of Sails! Let's hope that in the next edition of the OGR the kiwis will organize a project to enter Lion New Zealand (which would be eligible for the race) to participate with a NZ youth team. That would also bring the spectator fleet back on to the water. Although it was great last year, it was a vague reminiscence of the start 42 years earlier on the Boxing Day of 1981 with kiwi national hero Peter Blake steering Ceramco NZ and Digby Taylor his Outward Bound. We were escorted with the help of police through the croud down to the pier and the boats. 3000 boats were following us out from the startline round the Rangitoto Island with 250.000 people gathered on the shores of Auckland to watch the fleet. A number of helicopters howering above the fleet produced prime time live reporting on TV. Those were the times, but it sure was great to be back in NZ and enjoy the hospitality of the Royal NZ Yacht Squadron, take a pic by the America's Cup, do the rum race with the Commodore etc etc. ... See MoreSee Less
Here's another video of the same start from another perspective www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs4b2AF0k80
The 2025 Tapio Lehtinen Sailing Diary and already the fifth Wall Calendar are available.
Price for both 28€+VAT+mailing expenses.
Orders by email from:
timo.tuominen@tot59media.fi
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Flight from Panama City to Bocas del Toro, now on Paul's Cartwright 40 Windflower motoring to an anchorage for the literary work:) ... See MoreSee Less
Good surfing in those parts Tapio!
Oih. Ihana paikka ja seutu. Olen ollut siellä 😍
Will spend the nex two weeks in Panama with Paul Trammel working on the translations of both the 2022 GGR / Asteria and 2023 OGR / Galiana WithSecure books. From left to right, yours truly, Paul and an agouti in the hotel garden. ... See MoreSee Less
¡Qué bueno q' hablas español, hermanito!
If you need an old proof-reader, I know one...
Itse ymmärrän oheisesta Radiomaailma-lehden artikkelista lähinnä otsikon ja kuvatekstit. Onnittelut ja kiitokset 60-vuotiaalle Jari Perkiömäelle, maailmanlaajuisesti arvostetulle radiokelien meteorologille, joka on sinnikkäästi tehnyt vapaaehtoistöitä radiotiimini kanssa jo kolmen kilpailun aikana. On huikeata, että perinteisellä tekniikalla ilman satelliittiyhteyksiä voidaan saada toimiva yhteys Eteläisellä valtamerellä keikkuvan pienen veneen heikkotehoisen radion kanssa. ... See MoreSee Less
Kiitos artikkelista. Jari tekee hyvää duunia. Arvostan sitä todella. Spurs.