William Hatfield

William Hatfield (born 14 January 1939) is an Australian retired engineer and fisherman who on 22 February 2020, at the age of 81, became the oldest person to have successfully sailed solo, non-stop and unassisted around the Earth. Hatfield simultaneously set the speed record for a person sailing single-handedly westbound around the world in a vessel of under in length. Early life and career Hatfield was born on 14 January 1939 and grew up in the Cairns area and later around Sydney. When he was 15 he moved to Paddington, New South Wales, and worked at a boat yard in Rushcutters Bay. He studied civil engineering and after graduating worked on construction projects around Sydney, as well as in Papua New Guinea and Gladstone. In 1972 he bought a yacht and began to sail and explore various locations around the Southern Hemisphere. He later bought a fishing trawler and started a fishing business.