Neal Petersen was born in Cape Town in 1967. In 1992 he participated in his first solo event across an ocean. In September 1998, he set sail in Around Alone and eight months later completed the race in seventh place. The story of that race is an integral part of the documentary, No Barriers - The Story of Neal Petersen. Neal's No Barriers Education Foundation, which he established in 1996, provides subsidies for the education of youth. South Carolina named him Volunteer of the Year in 1998.
His autobiography, Journey of a Hope Merchant: From Apartheid To The Elite World Of Solo Yacht Racing, recounts his life voyage, from Cape Town to a place in history as the first black man to race solo around the globe. He was born physically disabled and impoverished, but dreamt of building his own boat and of sailing in the great solo races of the world. His mother was a teacher and his father was a security guard. When Neal started to walk, doctors discovered he was born without one of his hip sockets. It took several surgeries for doctors to successfully mould a new socket from part of his pelvic bone. He was almost 6 by the time the operations and physical therapy allowed him to walk again. Between discovering his love of swimming during physical therapy and listening to his father's tales of his time at sea as a diver, Neal started dreaming of the ocean. He first sailed when he was 12 years old.
At 17, he moved to the United States where he studied commercial diving, a career that took him around the globe and paid him enough money to finance his dream. At 23, he set sail for England from South Africa in a boat some dubbed "a floating coffin" but he called her No Barriers. He only made it to Ireland.
In his autobiography, he writes about the individuals who have sustained him - his mother, a generous community of Irish citizens, a cadre of eminent sailors, and the woman who ultimately ended their relationship because he chose to follow his dreams of sailing.
Neal now lives in McClellanville, South Carolina, where he offers his motivational speaking skills to corporate and other events. His Web site is www.no-barriers.com. In 1999, he married Darlene Kristi, and the two divide their time between the United States and South Africa.
