Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz(1936 — 2021)
Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz
Pologne
7 min read
A Polish sailor born in 1936, she became in 1978 the first woman to complete a solo circumnavigation of the globe by sailboat. Her achievement, accomplished aboard the sailboat Mazurek, took 401 days.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born on July 15, 1936, in Poznań, Poland
- 1978: first woman to complete a solo circumnavigation by sail
- The voyage lasted 401 days (1976–1978) aboard the Mazurek
- A trained naval engineer, she combined technical expertise with athletic achievement
- Honored with numerous Polish awards and distinctions for this achievement
Works & Achievements
A sporting and human achievement consisting of sailing alone around the globe aboard the Mazurek in 401 days. This accomplishment permanently inscribed the name of Chojnowska-Liskiewicz in the history of world navigation.
An autobiographical account of the circumnavigation published in Polish and translated into several languages. The work is considered a valuable testimony on the conditions of solo sailing in the 1970s.
Before her round-the-world voyage, Chojnowska-Liskiewicz worked as an engineer in the Polish shipyards. This technical expertise proved decisive in the preparation and maintenance of the Mazurek during the circumnavigation.
Before her round-the-world voyage, she established herself as one of Poland's top competitive sailors at the national level, accumulating the technical experience essential to her future achievement.
Anecdotes
Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz was first and foremost a trained naval engineer. A graduate of the Gdańsk University of Technology, she designed ships before deciding to sail one solo around the globe — an unusual path for the era, when women were virtually absent from both shipyards and great ocean crossings.
Her sailboat, the *Mazurek*, was a 9.5-metre Ohlson 33 — a relatively modest vessel for a circumnavigation. Chojnowska-Liskiewicz had been actively involved in its outfitting and technical preparation, drawing on her engineering skills to fine-tune every detail before departing from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The feat took place against the particular backdrop of communist Poland: her voyage enjoyed state support, which saw it as an opportunity for international prestige. Yet radio contact with her family remained rare and difficult from the middle of the ocean, making her isolation all the more oppressive.
As she completed her round-the-world voyage in March 1978, she was in an unofficial race with British sailor Naomi James, who had also set out on a solo circumnavigation. Chojnowska-Liskiewicz arrived first in Las Palmas, securing her place as the first woman ever to have accomplished this feat in the history of world sailing.
On her return to Poland, she was welcomed as a national hero. The government awarded her numerous honours, including the Order of the Banner of Labour. Her achievement was celebrated both as a symbol of Polish national pride and as striking proof of women's emancipation in elite sport.
Primary Sources
An autobiographical account in which Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz describes, day by day, each leg of her circumnavigation — the storms she weathered in the South Atlantic, technical stopovers, and moments of absolute solitude on the open sea.
Document certifying the departure from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on 28 March 1976 and the return on 21 March 1978, officially ratifying Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz's solo circumnavigation as the first ever completed by a woman.
Poland's leading daily newspaper of the era devoted its front page to the sailor's homecoming, hailing her as “the pride of the Polish navy and an ambassador for her country on every ocean in the world.”
Key Places
Birthplace of Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz in 1936. An industrial and university city in western Poland, it shaped the rigorous and methodical character of the future sailor.
A Baltic port city where Chojnowska-Liskiewicz studied naval engineering and developed her passion for sailing. It was in this maritime environment that she conceived and planned her circumnavigation project.
The port of departure and arrival for Chojnowska-Liskiewicz's round-the-world voyage. She set sail on 28 March 1976 and returned triumphant on 21 March 1978, officially completing her historic circumnavigation.
The artificial waterway linking the Atlantic to the Pacific, crossed by the *Mazurek* during the first leg of the voyage. This passage was a crucial technical milestone in the westward circumnavigation.
The southern tip of Africa, feared by sailors for its fierce winds and rough seas. Rounding this cape marked one of the most perilous stages of Chojnowska-Liskiewicz's journey.
