Sailor lost in Pacific with record-breaking trimaran

He had departed last July 5 from the port of Acapulco, Mexico bound for Baltimore after crossing the Panama Canal. Unfortunately, after just a week his boat’s tracks were lost. Donald Lawson, an experienced 41-year-old sailor from Baltimore, planned to set out to break the solo world record aboard the trimaran Defiant in October. Now the search is on for his boat, lost in the Pacific.

What we know about the sailor who disappeared in the Pacific

In the day yesterday, Tuesday, July 25, the Mexican Navy reported that it had found a boat off the coast of Acapulco, which early reports said was just Defiant, the trimaran of Donald Lawson. The boat was found capsized at over 275 nautical miles from the coast, in Mexican territorial waters, but as of yet there is no confirmation that it is indeed Defiant. A well-known face in U.S. boating, socially committed to spreading sailing among people of color and with The Dark Seas Project, Donald Lawson has 20 years of experience and several crossings made. The last communication with his wife occurred on Wednesday, July 12, after the sailor reported three days earlier that he was having problems with the rigging and wind generator. Probably the sailor, given the weather and boat conditions, was returning to Acapulco by mutual agreement with his wife ashore. It should be remembered that Mexico is experiencing a particularly dramatic season of bad weather and hurricanes; in fact, the sailor had waited several days in the port of Acapulco before spotting the window for departure for Baltimore.

What boat is the record-breaking trimaran

Defiant is a 60-foot trimaran of the ORMA 60 class, capable of speeds in excess of 40 knots, which has won a great deal in its history. Born in 2004 as Groupama 2, the trimaran at the time skippered by French sailor Franck Cammas won several regattas, including five ORMA championships, and shredded a number of records. Later, under the name Mighty Merloe, the trimaran won the 2017 Transpac, setting the record for multihulls. Lawson had purchased it with a view to attempting to break Francois Gabart‘s record that would start in October 2023, and the boat was in Mexico for some work and repairs.