Jure Šterk, Slovenian seafarer,  6 January 1937, Zagreb, disappeared in the Indian Ocean in January 2009.

He grew up in Vinica, Bela Krajina. He attended high school in Črnomelj after high school and was employed by Cetis in Celje. He passed the captain’s exam in 1977. He lived in Ljubljana for a while, and after his retirement he moved to Koper, in the immediate vicinity of Luka.

Three times he participated in the Transatlantic Minitransat Regatta (Transat 6.50), after which he sailed eight times on the Atlantic Ocean, twice on the Indian Ocean, once on the Pacific, between 1991 and 1994 sailed the world on a sail only 6.5 meters long. Most of the vessels were made by himself .

In his exploits, he fell five times [2] into the sea, lost or seriously injured the rudder four times, stranded five times more seriously, but always saved the boat without foreign assistance. In December 2007, he went sailing around the world starting and ending in New Zealand. He made his last radio call on January 1, 2009, and on January 27, his “Lunatic” sailboat was spotted damaged and apparently abandoned in the Indian Ocean about a thousand miles off the coast of Australia. [3] Three months later, the American research ship Roger Revelle found the sail 500 miles further southeast, but he was not on board. [4] Šterk is still missing, and his logbook was found, which was later published.

Šterk was an honorary member of the Ljubljana Sailing Club, a member of the YC Portorož and the British Ocean Cruising Club, the largest sailing club in the world. He was also a master of judo (Day 1 after Kodokan) and an amateur radio (called S52YS). His son is director Igor Šterk.

(Script from Wikipedia)