Mike Plant

Mike Plant (November 21, 1950 – 1992) was an American single-handed yachtsman.

He competed in the BOC Challenge and the Vendée Globe, a single-handed non-stop race around the world.

After five years of single-handed sailing, he logged over 100,000 miles at sea and set the record for the fastest solo circumnavigation by an American, with a time of 135 days.

Mike Plant was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 21, 1950, the third of Frank Plant Jr. and Mary Kennedy's five children.

He spent his childhood in the Minneapolis suburb of Deephaven on the shores of Lake Minnetonka.

At the age of 9, Plant began sailing X Boats at Minnetonka Yacht Club, and by the age of 14, aboard Lucky Strike, had twice won the Interlake Regatta, the biggest regatta in the area, in which the top five boats from each of the large lakes in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin competed at the end of the summer.

After many adventures in his 20s, including trekking the length of South America (12,000 miles), Plant moved to Jamestown, Rhode Island, where he would later find his passion for single-handed sailing.

In 1992, Plant was preparing to compete in his second Vendée Globe and fourth single-handed circumnavigation aboard Coyote, a powerful Open 60 sloop, and was lost at sea while delivering Coyote from New York Harbor to Les Sables-d'Olonne, France for the starting line.

Coyote was found 32 days later, turtled, without the 8,400 lb lead bulb that should have been attached to the keel.

At the time of his death, Plant was one of only six people to have completed three solo circumnavigations, joining Bertie Reed, Guy Bernardin, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede and Philippe Jeantot.

and Jon Sanders.

On September 6, 2002, Plant was inducted into The Single-Handed Sailing Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

A feature length documentary film about Mike Plant's life was released worldwide in October 2018.

The film, entitled COYOTE: The Mike Plant Story, was directed by Plant's nephew, Thomas Simmons.

Notable characters in the film include celebrated sailors, Ken Read and Philippe Jeantot, Executive Editor of Cruising World and maritime author, Herb McCormick, and members of the Plant family.

After his death, the Mike Plant Memorial Fund was created at Wayzata Sailing [né Wayzata Community Sailing Center], located on Lake Minnetonka in Wayzata, Minnesota, to provide sailing experiences for children who would not otherwise have the opportunity to sail.

Scholarships are available through the fund.

In June 2019, Wayzata Sailing (a nonprofit community sailing center), located on Lake Minnetonka, opened its new building named the Mike Plant Community Boathouse. Initially joining Wayzata Sailing as a leader of scholarship programming, Mike's mother Mary Plant became a tireless supporter of its broader programming and mission to create lake access.

Originally the building was intended to be named for her volunteerism in her son's name; however, at Mary's request the building was named for Mike.

His story is in integral part of Wayzata Sailing's mission - showing the power and connection that sailing can provide us, while giving us both the direction and freedom we seek in life.

Mike's mother Mary passed late in 2019 but was able to celebrate the opening of the building with 4 generations of the Plant family in attendance.