In our second session with Neal we asked questions about his boat, and his experiences sailing it. 

Torresen Sailing Site:  What made you decide: I want to sail around the world by myself ?

I had raced as a boy on small boats in Table Bay. I wanted to race on the good boats, but people said that I was not good enough. I felt I was, and the only way that I thought that I could prove it, was to race a boat by myself doing every job to the best of my ability. Then in 1982 the BOC Challenge stopped in Cape Town and I met the third boat finishing, Richard Broadhead. Before he even spoke to the press, he answered every question I asked of him. I realized that I could one day race alone, and the dream to race around the world was born. He changed my life in some ways. Then seven years later at the Long Beach Boat Show, I met Mark Schrader, who again impacted my life and I began planing to race in the BOC Challenge. From the time I met Broadhead, till the time I stood on my boat crossing the first leg finish line, was 14 years. I was 28 years old.

Torresen Sailing Site:  What was the budget you worked within when building No Barriers ?

I built the boat with less funds than people spend buying their car. I began the project with a total of $3,000 and built the boat over several
years as I earned the money. When I launched the boat, she did not have
much, but she could sail. The day Mark Schrader helped me launch my boat, I
had spent about $25,000. In total I estimate I spent a further $10,000 on
the boat and this winter I spent may be another $10,000. This is not
counting the value of the discounts, free materials, labor and sponsorship
I have received. That would be worth at least $100,000 to $150,000.

Torresen Sailing Site:  You estimate the total spent on No Barriers to be around $200,000.  Will you build your next boat on your own, or will you have it done commercially ?

This will be done in a yard, with a professional naval architectural team and builders. I will do this with a competitive budget, exotic materials, and good sponsorship. My sailing ability has outgrown my building skills.
If I am to be first, I need a vessel that is state of the art, and that will take expertise beyond mine.

Torresen Sailing Site: What is the feeling you get when you have laid down to sleep, you are in the middle of the ocean, and the boat you built with your own hands is
sailing herself, with no one on deck to look out for her ?

During the snooze, I am totally depending on my radar alarm for any targets. I am a light sleeper at sea, and live on my instincts. It is amazing how ininstincts become honed for survival. This race is about surviving.

Torresen Sailing Site:  How did Harry Mitchell become your hero/mentor ?
Note:  Mitchell was an English sailor who was lost at sea during the 1994 edition of Around Alone

As a child I read a lot about sailing and Harry's name came up in newspaper articles, magazine stories and the books on the OSTAR and BOC. It was in 1990 at the London Boat Show that Mark Schrader introduced him to me and the friendship began. We were in touch till 1992 when I finally got to race
against him in the OSTAR, and then again in 1994 in the BOC Transatlantic
Challenge.. He was the type of person who you liked instantly and became your friend. He was always willing to help and encourage me and others. He was a little boy who had found new friends to play with.

Torresen Sailing Site:  Any hope that the film option on No Barriers (Neal's Autobiography) will become a film ?

There is always hope that the option will materialize, especially when the producer has had to fork over quite a lot of money to myself, lawyers and agents. Work is being done on the screen play and I am being kept up to
date on progress of meetings. Its never a done deal till the film is aired,
but this has tremendous promise.

Torresen Sailing Site:  Would you have a specific actor in mind to play you ?

Not yet. We hold options on two big actors, and negotiations with one of the top directing teams are underway, but if I had the control and say, it would be an unknown actor in my role, and the two big names in the
supporting roles. There is talent out there, and its up to my production team to find it.

Torresen Sailing Site:  How did the No Barriers Philosophy benefit you in preparing for the '94 BOC ?

Many people might have quite when dealing with the challenges I have had to face. If you read No Barriers, my autobiography, you will read about all the negative things I have had to deal with, and all the negative attitudes. But I wanted this dream so much, that the negative become a
positive fuel to prove to myself that I can do this, and anything else I
wanted to do. The result is I have competed in this boat in 7 trans ocean
races, finishing six of them, placing between first and Fourth in class. The
seventh race I did not finish - the BOC Challenge - but still got to sail
50% of the course and learn from it. Each experience has been a great
teacher, and out of my attitude and experiences, I have built two
successful companies.

Torresen Sailing Site:  What changes have been made to No Barriers for this race ?

I have done a complete overall to the boat. Put in an engine which I never had, new rudder bearings, strengthened the mast base, sand blasted the deck and re-glassed it thanks to my sponsor, Phillips Industrial Services. I
have put about six months work  into the boat on the hard at the SC State
Ports Authority's Columbus Street Terminal. She is like a new boat again.

Torresen Sailing Site:  Taking 3rd in the '96 Transatlantic race after colliding with the freighter, is that you greatest achievement ?

On the water, yes. But in my life, no. Working with children and using my sailing to show them how each subject is applied and that my life depends on it is part of my contribution. Seeing them grasp what I am sharing and
applying it to their own dreams is my greatest achievement.

Torresen Sailing Site:  Considering all the problems (collision, dismasting) you have had do you feel there is some sort of 'hex' on you ?

I designed and built my boat with no sponsorship and a very limited budget. I have sailed my boat over 60,000 miles in eight years. I have spent
collectively 250 days plus at sea alone in this boat. When all this is put into context, I have done well. These are the flat tires any motorist will get in the course of a long time driving. I have had my share of  incidence's, but I too have had my share of success. Not everyone remembers the mundane quiet days, but all to often, only the drama days. The laws of probabilities states that he or she who is at sea the longest will take the most punishment.

Torrresen Sailing Site:   Taking all of your experience into consideration: Comment on this description of the Around Alone course:  While Legs 1 & 4 are important they are essentially a delivery voyage to and from the site of the real racing, the Southern Ocean ?

All the sailing is important to me. The Atlantic legs are about tactics and positioning - a true challenge. The smaller boat suffer more. The doldrums
are frustrating. The Southern ocean legs are fast, and violent, but exhilarating. All these things make this truly a demanding race. This is a human drama, and change is a big part. I am racing against myself and the clock, using the elements and living with what is thrown at me. Its a part of a life I have chosen, but its not for everyone.

Torresen Sailing Site:  Any worries about No Barriers capsizing in the Southern Ocean ? 

She is going to get knocked down. No body gets out of hell with out the feeling the heat. I have paid attention to hull and deck joins, hull to keel joints, chainplates and rigging. I want this boat to withstand knock downs. I need to trust my boat down their. That trust is being built now in my preparations.

Torresen Sailing Site:  What kinds of food do you rely on for nutrition, freeze dried,
pressure cooker etc. ?

With the College of Charleston and Harry Mitchell's daughter in law we have written a computer program to monitor my diet. I need 2,500 calories per day to maintain my weight on the Atlantic legs, and 3,000 calories per day for the Southern Ocean. My staples will be rice and pasta, but their will be freeze dried food. Watch  my website after July for a list of my diet.