Donald Lawson, sailor seeking to break world records, has gone missing

Lawson reportedly aimed to break 15 records, including becoming the fastest person and first African American to sail around the world alone in a vessel no longer than 60 feet.

A Black sailor attempting to shatter multiple world records remains missing nearly two weeks after his family last heard from him.

On July 5, Baltimore resident Donald Lawson, 41, departed Acapulco, Mexico, on his 60-foot racing trimaran according to NBC News. 

Quentin Lawson said his brother’s original itinerary called for him to travel on his boat, named Defiant, from Acapulco to the west coast of Central America, through the Panama Canal, then home to Baltimore.

However, on July 9, four days after he set sail, “a storm knocked out one of the engines” on his boat, his brother said, forcing him to turn around and return to Acapulco.

Jacqueline Lawson, Lawson’s wife, said he used a wind generator after being left without engine power. She said he lost his backup wind turbine a few days later.  

Quentin Lawson said data from his brother’s boat showed that late on July 12, while he was moving at a pace of about 11 knots against the wind (about 12.6 mph), he significantly lowered his speed. He then abruptly altered his course and started sailing against the wind, which caused his speed to drop to 2.9 knots.

“I believe something happened at that moment,” Quentin Lawson said, NBC reported. “It doesn’t make sense to turn out of the wind into the wind when you’re on emergency route to turn back.”

Quentin Lawson said family members last heard from his brother on July 13 when he was about 285 nautical miles from Acapulco.

Petty Officer Hunter Schnabel of Coast Guard District 11, based in Alumina, California, said Mexico’s Maritime Search and Rescue Unit is spearheading attempts to locate Lawson’s trimaran.

While the data from Defiant was concerning, Quentin Lawson — who conceded he is “a little afraid” — said he remains optimistic because his brother is an experienced sailor.

He said his brother, who founded the charity organization Dark Seas Project, aimed to break 15 world records, looking to become the fastest person and first African American to sail around the world solo in a vessel no longer than 60 feet.

Lawson himself shared in April 2020 that he intended to finish the journey in 70 days — a lot less time than the American record of 105 days.

The same year, he shared that he was working to increase Black youths’ sailing involvement. He noted that a youth sailing program helped him realize his dream.

“I went and asked the captain, ‘Hey, how far can you take on a boat like this?'” Lawson previously recalled, according to NBC. “He looked at me and said, ‘Technically, you can sail it around the world.’ And that’s when the light bulb went off. I said — at 9 years old — ‘I want to sail around the world.'”

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