On 31 October 1999, at the age of eighteen, Jesse Martin sailed into the record books in his yacht Lionheart by becoming the youngest person ever to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world.
Jesse was born for adventure. After learning to sail at fourteen, he travelled along Australia’s tropical coast on a flimsy catamaran, and by sixteen he had kayaked through the remote island of Papua New Guinea and crewed on a yacht sailing from Belize to Tahiti.
But the biggest adventure of them all was yet to come.
Lionheart is Jesse’s story. A story of courage, loneliness, and danger, it is also an incredible, gripping, true-life adventure.
Published in Australia by Allen & Unwin, Lionheart A Journey of the Human Spirit is also available in German, Thai, Korean and Danish languages.
I was a member of the of a large group of people who thought he was mad. I take my hat off to him.
– David Adams, international yachtsman
Your courage and determination are an inspirational example for all young people to follow.
– Bill Clinton, former US President
