The veteran sailor with a Substack: Colm Walker is meditating his way to the 2026 Golden Globe Race
American/Irish veteran Colm Walker shares how his military background shapes his approach to solo sailing and the importance of mental balance onboard. Here's how he's preparing to sail around the world solo, nonstop, and unassisted for the 2026 Golden Globe Race.
There’s one tool Colm Walker swears by as he gears up for the 2026 Golden Globe Race: meditation.
‘I’m being very intentional about my land based life and footprint. That includes silent retreats, deepening a daily meditation practice, honestly assessing my skill gaps and then working urgently to address them,’ he tells Yachting Monthly.
The 2026 Golden Globe Race will be his second McIntyre event, after taking part in the 2023 Ocean Globe Race with a veteran crew.
‘The OGR drew me in unexpectedly,’ he says, looking back on the experience. ‘I didn’t yet know what I didn’t know.’
As he prepares to sail around the world solo, nonstop, and unassisted, his approach is instead one of mindfulness, and more ‘deliberate curiosity and learning.’
Sailor / Soldier / Seanchai
‘For me [the GGR] is a way of answering a quiet personal question, and a vehicle for recovery and renewal after injury,’ Walker says of his motivations for entering. ‘The race provides structure, shared meaning, and accountability. It turns a solitary journey into a collective human story.
He adds, ‘It’s very much a “race to remember” for those that I served with or still carry. It’s about presence, patience, and being fully here, now.’
Photo by Colm Walker
Before turning to racing, Walker, a dual citizen of the United States and Ireland, was deployed in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army. References to the veteran experience pepper his GGR messaging, which stresses healing through introspection and self-mastery.
His website identifies two veteran-focused non-profit organisations he’ll support through his GGR campaign.
Skeleton Crew Adventures, which provides veterans and first responders with adventure therapy at sea, and Wisdom Dojo, which supports veterans through meditation and the integration of psychedelic-assisted therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
After his military service, Walker also went on to become Executive Director at the Mission Within, a psychedelic retreat provider with the declared goal of creating “a future free from veteran suicide”, which has appeared in the New York Times.
Photo by Colm Walker
The coherence in Walker’s messaging is notable, as is his explicit emphasis on a target audience demographic.
A recent instagram post shows him mending the US flag that accompanied him throughout more than a year of action; the sponsorship materials on his website highlight the GGR’s dominant following: Male, Generation X and Y, ‘who are draw into the event’s adventurous and competitive experience.’
A profile from adventure and lifestyle blog ‘The Rugged Male’ ranks highly in search engine results for his name.
Like much Golden Globe content, its copy stresses personal responsibility, self-reliance, highlighting the event’s unique, extreme-adventure appeal and framing it as an ‘act of resistance’ for its rejection of modern racing technology.
Walker echoes the sentiment. The GGR draws him because, ‘It feels like a return to the essence of adventure. It’s simple, demanding, and honest.’
‘The race is really an agreement to step back into a form of uncertainty that most of modern life has carefully engineered away,’ he writes in his freshly-launched Substack, which positions him as a Seanchai, a traditional Gaelic storyteller. ‘It is not nostalgia. It is exposure.’
Being able to share his story, albeit unilaterally, feels urgent in a race defined by its isolation.
Systems thinking
Photo by Colm Walker
Much like his messaging, Walker’s methodical approach to race preparation is shaped by his military background.
‘There’s an old line: Amateurs talk tactics; professionals talk logistics,’ he says. ‘Military training gave me systems thinking by breaking complex problems into manageable parts without losing sight of the whole.’
Still, ‘It feels like an enormous logistical and project-management challenge just to reach the start line.’
Though a seasoned sailor (he holds a USCG 100T Master and USCG 200T Mate certifications and has sailed throughout the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean), Walker specifically credits his training with giving him ‘a realistic understanding of human limits, which allows you to plan to protect against them.’
Colm Walker’s Golden Globe Race boat
Photo by Colm Walker
Walker’s choice of vessel for the upcoming GGR reflects his emphasis on emotional resilience and mental balance.
‘After some gentle nudging from trusted advisors, I realised I wanted a design that prioritised comfort and calm below decks for long periods at sea,’ he explains. ‘The Tayana 37 offers generous space, good headroom, and a feeling of solidity that matters mentally as much as physically over many months.’
He’s still working through a GGR-specific to-do list for his boat Mo Chuisle (Irish for ‘my pulse’), which will include final works during a stopover in Annapolis before his crossing to Les Sables d’Olonne.
‘It’s very much a “Ship of Theseus” process. Almost every system has been examined, repaired, or replaced with care.’
The crossing will be a ‘proving ground’, and a chance to build familiarity with the vessel. Walker plans to test a Jordan Series Drogue, towing a warp, various reefing strategies, and heaving-to throughout.
‘Like most things with this race, it’s less about perfection and more about consistency, repetition, and confidence built over time. Anything I carry into the race will be practiced and understood beforehand,’ he says, including celestial navigation techniques.
Inching together towards the start
Photo by Rob Havill / GGR
Above all, Walker says he’s ‘trying to enjoy the preparation process without being overly attached to the outcome.’
He’s most looking forward to the start, ‘That moment offshore when both skipper and boat have settled into rhythm and the night sky opens up in extraordinary detail and light.’
The prolonged isolation he’ll face from then on during what has been called ‘the Loneliest Race in the World’, ‘is part of the invitation. I see it less as something to endure and more as a condition to meet honestly, with curiosity and respect,’ with help from his meditative practice.
Still, he admits he’ll miss touch, and ‘Spontaneous human connection. Those conversations that aren’t planned, scheduled, or rationed,’ and that he’s enjoyed connecting with the other Golden Globe Race skippers over undertaking a unique, once-in-only-a-few-lifetimes adventure.
‘We’re a varied group with different backgrounds, styles, and stories and yet all answering the same siren call,’ he says. ‘That shared pull is something special.’
Quick facts: Colm Walker / Mo Chuisle (Tayana 37)
Sail Plan?
A conservative, versatile cutter rig focused on balance and durability rather than speed (mainsail with reefs, working headsail, staysail, and dedicated heavy-weather sails.)
Furler or hank on?
Furler for the primary headsails, hank-on for storm sails.
Self-steering set up?
Primary hydrovane windvane self-steering, with a simple electric autopilot retained as emergency backup in a sealed container.
Antifouling?
A hard racing antifoul chosen for longevity and predictability over the full duration of the race. Trinidad HD has been applied in San Diego and will be assessed on the way to the start.
Sailing Inspirations:
I’d like to thank Mike Valentine, Tom O’Donnell, John Hill, Taylor Grieger, Piers Helm, and others along the way that try to pass the stoke of sailing and of the ocean on to others.
Not sailing legends of old, but the pros and amateurs keeping the dream alive.
Three unexpected items you’ll take onboard:
- A small collection of spiritual texts.
- A hand-written notebook for daily reflection.
- Carefully chosen comfort foods reserved specifically for low-morale days.
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The post The veteran sailor with a Substack: Colm Walker is meditating his way to the 2026 Golden Globe Race appeared first on Yachting Monthly.