Peter Gibbons-Neff Jr. was devastated two years ago when he lost a rudder 2,300 miles from the finish line of a race across the Atlantic Ocean, dashing his hopes of winning.
It took time for the competitive Annapolis offshore solo sailor and Marine Corps veteran to realize the voyage was still a success.
He finished the 2023 Mini Transat, even passing another sailor to finish second to last despite taking a roughly 300-mile detour for repairs.
And he now knows that his highly publicized voyage contributed to a more than 200% increase in participation in U.S. Patriot Sailing, a veterans organization that he was raising awareness for and which he credits with giving him community and purpose at the lowest points in life.
Gibbons-Neff, 36, recently launched a campaign for the 2027 Mini Transat, the grueling ocean race that runs from France to the Canary Islands and on to the French territory of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. He’ll still be supporting Patriot Sailing, but this time he’s upfront about his real goal.
“Everything is optimized to win the race,” Gibbons-Neff said from the Netherlands, where he was networking at the world’s largest sailing trade show and meeting with potential sponsors.
After that, Gibbons-Neff and his girlfriend, Jane Millman, who works on his campaign and supports his solo sails from shore, were headed to France to check on the status of the foiling boat being custom built for him to race. (Foiling boats rise out of the water on hydrofoils and move faster.)
Then it’s back to Annapolis, where Gibbons-Neff lives.
Gibbons-Neff grew up outside of Philadelphia but was no stranger to Annapolis. He began sailing here during middle and high school, and attended the U.S Naval Academy, where he sailed on the offshore team for four years.
After graduating in 2011, he was deployed to Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea for over a decade.
“That was my life for such a long time,” Gibbons-Neff said. “It really taught me resilience, getting through some really challenging times.”
In 2021, Gibbons-Neff left active duty and joined the Marine Corps reserves. At first, he struggled to find purpose and meaning in his new life.
Patriot Sailing filled that void and renewed his passion for the sport, he said.
“They were there to support both on the water and off the water,” Gibbons-Neff said of the community.
Even though it had been a decade since he sailed offshore, he started researching a once-every-four-years, around-the-world race, the Vendée Globe. The type of boats needed to compete in that race, however, cost around a million dollars — out of Gibbons-Neff’s price range.
He shifted his attention to the Transat, in which competitors sail 21-foot boats. Millman said those vessels aren’t usually found in America.
“There just happened to be one for sale in Annapolis, walking distance from my condo,” Gibbons-Neff said.
He bought it and named her Terminal Leave, a reference to the paid time military members receive at the end of the service for unused leave days. His first big sail was a 360-mile transit of the English Channel, a treacherous waterway known for intense tides, currents and vessel traffic.
“When you’re sailing out there, you might have 20 giant tankers going across your bow,” Gibbons-Neff said.
He sailed 8,000 miles offshore before the 2023 Transat, a race dating to 1977. In the competition, sailors aren’t allowed satellite communication or external assistance, putting their seamanship and navigational skills to the test.
Gibbons-Neff said he had a strong start from France to the Canary Islands. But six days into the next phase of the crossing, his boat hit something, and one of his rudders was ripped off.
“I was devastated when that happened,” Gibbons-Neff recalled. “I was upset, but it didn’t hit me at that point because the second the rudder rips off, there’s a crisis management mentality. … You essentially go into survival mode first.”
Once he determined the boat wasn’t taking on water, he realized he couldn’t do the repairs himself. The closest place to get his rudder fixed was about 300 miles away, at Cape Verde in West Africa, about a day and a half of sailing away.
“Rudder broke. Cape Verde repair,” he sent in a message to the racing commission.
Millman was following his progress from home. The race tracker showed Gibbons-Neff dropped from cruising at 13 knots — nautical miles per hour — to puttering at 1.3.
“Your heart just sinks,” she said, remembering that she, too, kicked into emergency mode, arranging for a marina in Cape Verde to fix Gibbons-Neff’s rudder.
A crew made the repairs in four hours. Race regulations meant Gibbons-Neff had to stay ashore for at least 12 hours.
Back at sea, alone, he said he felt like a failure.
“I was just racing hard, but playing catch-up because I was so far behind the rest of the fleet,” Gibbons-Neff recalled. “I felt terrible. I felt like I let everyone down. Because we didn’t have satellite communication, I couldn’t talk to anyone.”
He ended up overtaking one boat and finishing second to last.
The grueling sport reminds him of his time in the military. He is drawn to the adventure and competition. And he accepts the risk, which comes in various forms: Injury, going overboard, fire, sinking. While crossing the Atlantic, he never slept longer than 40 minutes at a time.
“It’s exciting for me. I really enjoy challenging myself and seeing how hard I can push myself,” Gibbons-Neff said. “My danger tolerance might be a little different than the average citizen based on my time in the military.”
In 2027, he’ll be at the helm of a custom Sam Manuard-designed, fully foiling Mini 6.50. Made of carbon fiber, it’s built to be the fastest boat in the fleet, capable of reaching 30 knots, he said.
Gibbons-Neff prepares with weight training and ultramarathon running, the closest activity to solo sailing he’s been able to find. He also has his 2023 experience to draw from.
“I feel,” he said, “a lot more resilient now.”
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