SIGHTINGS winter reads of
the life and times of mike plant
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Latitude 38
• November, 2017
It's that time of year. Shorts going in the closet, jackets coming out, local sailing taking on a whole new character — oh, come on! Light-air winter sailing isn't that bad. It's a far cry from those poor folks on the East Coast who, right about now, are cocooning their boats on the hard somewhere until next spring. But no matter where you are, fall and winter are great times to kick back with a good book, and if you prefer those of the sailing persuasion, we might be able to help. Here are a
ALL PHOTOS BILLY BLACK
In fall 1992, Mike Plant was missing. The Minnesota native was scheduled to arrive in Les Sables-d'Olonne, France, in October for the start of the second-ever Vendée Globe. Plant was short on funds and time, and his brand-new Open 60 Coyote, which was undeniably fast and powerful, was untested. After realizing that an EPIRB had been activated weeks before, the Coast Guard launched a massive search. Coyote was eventually found capsized, the bulb on her keel gone. Plant was never found, and pronounced dead at 42. A new documentary — directed by Plant's nephew — chronicles the unlikely rise of an unlikely hero who would become the best American singlehanded offshore sailor, a title that at the time (and even today) was practically a contradiction in terms. The documentary, called Coyote, premieres on November 9 as part of the Napa Film Festival. "The movie is about more than just sailing," said director Thomas Simmons, who lives in the Bay Area. "It's about a guy who went to some dark places before he connected with his passions." Mike Plant grew up on Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, where he learned to sail. As a teenager, he found himself in trouble more often than not, and was eventually enrolled in Outward Bound, an education program whose founding mission was to give young people the skills to endure trying conditions through mental fortitude gained from harsh experience. Wanting to further challenge his survival skills, Plant hitchhiked to South America. He was there for nine months, and the trip led to a 'business plan'; Plant started smuggling cocaine, and made enough money to buy a boat in Greece. Plant ran a few charters in the Greek islands, including sailing a group to Turkey who bought several kilos of hashish, a transaction that eventually forced Plant to flee the country. He came back to the States, got into construction, made a living, and reinvented himself. But there was a deeper itch. In 1984 Plant saw a film called The Ultimate Challenge about the inaugural BOC in 1982-83, which was the first singlehanded aroundthe-world race since the famed 1968 Golden Globe. "He walked out of that theater transformed," said Mike's brother Tom in the documentary. "The lightbulb of all lightbulbs went off. Everything clicked, and everything began to make sense to him." Plant would go on to sail in two BOC challenges (winning Class II on his first attempt in 1986-87) and compete in the first Vendée Globe, where he set the record for fastest American to sail around the world alone. The son of Mike Plant's sister Linda, Thomas Simmons has also reinvented himself over the past few years. "It's funny when people ask what I do," Simmons told Latitude. "I have a hard time saying I'm a filmmaker. I was in banking before and just itching to do something creative. I had a very comfortable career that I left behind because I wasn't happy. But I can honestly say these last three years have made me happy. Anyone that was close to this film knows there's a story within a story." Simmons calls Coyote a passion project, and said that despite his lack of experience in film, he was able to surround himself with professionals — he also had a huge trove of footage to work with. Coyote features interviews with Ken Read, photographer Billy Black, French singlehanded sailor and founder of the Vendée Globe Philippe Jeantot, and of course, Simmons' own family. "I was acutely aware of what kind of archive we had of my uncle and the characters around his life. And we were lucky to raise a ton of money to do this right." Simmons said it's strange how many people both have and haven't heard of Mike Plant, a loner in a solo sport essentially created and
