Vital Alsar Ramírez is a sailor and scientist who has made several extremely long sailing expeditions. His entire life has been linked to nature and the sea. He became professor of economics, although he never acted as such. During his Military service in Morocco, Alsar read a book about the Kon-Tiki, the expedition that Thor Heyerdahl conducted a balsaraft on the Pacific. Reading this account led to his interest in duplicating the feat, to sailing. After his military service, he lived in France, Stuttgart, Hamburg, and Canada. It was in Canada where he met Marc Modena, who became his traveling companion.
Between 1966 and 1973, Alsar led three expeditions by raft across the Pacific Ocean, from Ecuador and Australia. The first expedition failed, but the second and third succeeded, both setting the record for the longest known raft voyages in history— and. The first took place in 1966, using a simple raft, La Pacífica. The voyage was cut short by damage caused by teredo worms in the wood of his raft, which sank after 143 days—Alsar being rescued by a German ship. A second attempt in 1970 on a new raft, La Balsa, successful, and reaching Mooloolaba after 161 days and. A third voyage in 1972 featured three rafts. They reached the coast of Ballina, Australia after 179 days at sea.
Mexico-Spain-Mexico, ''Mar, hombre y paz''
Vital later replaced the rafts with galleons to carry out the project "Mar, hombre y paz", which was begun in 1980. This expedition took the trapo blanco, around the worldon board the La Marigalante.
Forthcoming expeditions
Alsar currently resides in Veracruz, Mexico, and spends his time with his grandchildren and profiling a new project that aims to unite all of the marine world. The new project is called "El Niño, La Mar y La Paz". It consists of carrying a child and thirteen crew aboard a trimaran named Itzamna. It set sail in 2009 from the Mexican island Cozumel. At each of the 27 ports it will be visited to deliver a message of peace to the world and make a tribute to all mariners in history. The Cantabrian navigator Vital Alsar, aboard the Trimaran Zamná - God of the arts and the knowledge- is in the heat of transatlantic passage that left from the island of Cozumel, in the Mexican Caribbean, and will finalize in the Port of Pireo in Greece. They will be those that it will confront, to its 75 years, the adventurous veteran, moved with the eagerness to transfer to the world a message of peace of the American indigenous towns. They will be 27 ports by which the ship saturates through its day's work. The operative center is located in the city ofSantander, Spain and the arrival to its beautiful bay for next the 27 of September is expected. The nobody best one than own the Vital Alsar so that it sets out the essence to us of this new adventure: “I come to give the "marine tin" with this new trip that, like that I have undertaken, they try to take a little romance, science, culture, history and, mainly, peace”. There is no storm that restrains the Cantabrian men... " I have never seen anything else than war throughout my life". For that reason the challenge has seted out “to see wave the flag of The peace, if not in the masts, at least in the hearts of people”. In the operative center the special station EH1PAZ has been qualified that will make the pursuit daily of the boat. This special station will be operative in the HF bands the time that lasts the entrusted pursuit.
