When Austrian Norbert Sedlacek tells you his occupation is `extreme sailor', you know immediately you aren't talking to your average sailor.

Certainly he doesn't do things in half measures. Sailing 93 days non-stop through Antarctica single-handed isn't something a recreational sailor would do. He had set out in November 2000 from Cape Town, South Africa, aiming to complete the race in less than 100 days, battling on his own against the elements in a test of character. He didn't even have other boats out there to keep him company.

"You're trying to have the fastest time in one class, but when you do something by your own, with no competition from other sailors, it is not so easy," he explained.

"When you are in a competition with other sailors it pushes you, but to push when you're by yourself is sometimes very difficult sometimes, when you are feeling down, mad, sad or tired.

"I was looking to stay under 100 days and to do 93 days is a very good time for the boat. When you don't analyse exactly the weather in this part of the world then you can lose a few days.

"In this region all you see is water and birds. You have to be strong in you head, have a focus on your finish and don't think too much on what would be or could be."

By comparison, his previous occupation as a tramway driver was boring, everything sailing is not. He did that for 11 years and says every day was the same.

"I started as a professional sailor because I was unhappy with my job and tried to change my job and thought maybe it works when you make your pleasure your business," said the 40-year-old who recently ended a one-week vacation in Bermuda, living on his 54-foot boat, Oase 3, which was docked in St. George's.

He came here from the Bahamas with a crew, but while they flew back home, Sedlacek left alone by water a week ago and it will be another week before he reaches his first port of call in the Azores where he will spend a week before picking up a charter for the last leg of the trip to Europe.

"For seven years now I've been sailing as a professional single-hander," he said.

"I did my first voyage as a professional in a 27-footer in the around the world single-handed. That's the smallest class you can handle, it took my two years, from 1996 to `98. I started in Italy and finished in Italy."

The Antarctica trip was another of the challenges Sedlacek took on.

"It was from Cape Town to Cape Town and it took me 93 days non-stop - 14,400 nautical miles," he said.

"The reason for the Antarctic race is when you want to sail the big open 60s there is a limited group of sailors who can start the race in the king class. Before you can sail the class you have to do something to show the guys on the committee that `this guy will be able to handle that and we can give him a number'.

Sedlacek's yellow-hulled boat is just two years old and is well equipped with modern navigational and communication equipment. It was built in a shipyard in France by two of that country's top boat builders.

"They call the boat in England a racing cruiser and the typical design of the hull is from racing boats which means it is fast and can handle the heaviest weather," he explained.

"The difficult thing down the south is the weather and the sea situation. It's the only place in the world where there is no land, so the waves and the sea situation gets very, very rough and very, very hard.

"The highest waves they measure in the winter time measures 100 feet. In winter time there are no racing boats, no explorers, nothing, so you have to use the Antarctic summer which starts from November to February/March. The waves then are 20 to 35 feet."

Sailing in the Antarctic was a challenge too good for the adventurous Sedlacek to pass up.

"You do these things just for experience, you want to know if you are able to handle it," he says.

There is another race that leaves from France and goes through the Atlantic, round the Antarctic and back again, covering a distance of nearly 25,000 nautical miles.

"That is the next race I'm planning to sail - if it's possible," he says with keen anticipation.

He earns his living through sponsorship of sailing projects as well as sailing, teaching and chartering.

"The main income for me is doing some shows and working as a writer, writing books and articles for magazines in the Germany area," he explained.

"I'm working more and more on developing youngsters. I have some projects in Austria where you train young people for offshore cruising and racing. You have to think in terms of when you are older and when you're 60 you cannot be the lonesome hero.

"In the next five years I will do the big races on my own. My residence of permanence is Vienna but I am not very often at home. Nothing in life is perfect but it's okay. I've been doing it for seven years and I'm really happy with my life.

"There are situations sometimes when I say `oh, I'm stupid to be here', but you can be very creative. You get what you pay for.

"When you do a race or charter, you can plan it and do the marketing it and then see if it is okay or not."

Sedlacek was last in Austria for their annual boat show in March, leaving the boat in the British Virgin Islands and flying back home.

"In March is the one and only boat show in Austria and when you want to make some business you have to be there."

Sedlacek trained in Tae-Kwon-Do for ten years and was a member of Austria's national Tae-Kwon-Do team, using sailing on the weekends as a means of relaxing.

It is more than a weekend pastime now and next year he plans to return to this part of the world to compete in the New York to Hamburg (Germany) race. Travelling across the Atlantic on his own doesn't present any challenges for him.

"No, it's easy when you have light winds," he says the day before leaving Bermuda.

"This time of the year you shouldn't run into trouble. It can be a slow trip because there is not too much wind, but when you have a lot of experience it is not too bad.

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