The Cruising Club of America (CCA) has named Tamara Klink, 28, of São Paulo, Brazil, the recipient of the 2025 Young Voyager Award. The award recognizes a young sailor who has made one or more exceptional voyages, demonstrating exceptional skills and courage.
Klink set sail alone at the age of 22 aboard Sardinha, her 26-foot sailboat, crossing the Atlantic Ocean from Norway to Brazil, a voyage of more than 7,000 miles in 90 days. This was just the beginning of her solo sailing career. In 2023 she sailed from France to Greenland in her 34-foot sailboat, Sardinha-2, and then overwintered in Greenland in the sea ice, becoming the first female sailor to overwinter in the Arctic alone. In the process of completing that voyage, Klink also became the first Latin American to solo sail the Northwest Passage.
Like a very small number of other adventurous voyagers, Klink’s accomplishments have attracted one of the largest social media audiences in the sailing world; some 200,000 users followed the real-time tracking of Sardinha-2 and read journal entries she posted.
“Sailing is always a collective endeavour, especially singlehanded,” Klink said upon being informed of the honor. “I rely on a team, as well as on the experience of more seasoned sailors who have paved and continue to pave our way.
“It is therefore a great honour to receive this Young Voyager Award from my bluewater colleagues in the CCA,” she added. “The previous experiences of others enable us to distinguish the essential from the superfluous and to remain ambitious while making fewer mistakes. I believe that going farther with less is the challenge of our time.”
This prestigious award is significant for its celebration of the spirit of adventure, courage, and seamanship. In announcing Klink’s accomplishments and honor, CCA Commodore Jay Gowell said, “Tamara’s achievements are incredible. She exemplifies the spirit of the founding of the CCA to make adventurous use of the sea, and she shows the spirit of the CCA in finding fulfillment in exploring the oceans and our own limits aboard small boats at sea.”
Born in 1997, Klink holds a master’s degree in architecture from ENSA Nantes at Nantes University. She has published four books about her experiences, presented more than 300 lectures in Portuguese, English, and French, and is a UNESCO Green Citizens pathfinder.