Updates on what’s going on in the sport of sailing generally (most usually, but not always, relating to cruising under sail) and in the sailing industry, plus news nuggets and personal views on all manner of nautical subjects.
Jan. 22/20: I’m dying to learn more about this. Seems a commercial vessel, a “geared bulker” in merchant marine vernacular, name of M/V Sunda, stopped to rescue the crew of a certain sailboat, along with a dog, somewhere in the mid-Atlantic, on January 10. The lack of facts is striking. We don’t know the location...
Dec. 20/2019: Someone had to do it first! And the Kiwis certainly seem pretty laid back about the whole business. This happened yesterday. Watch the viddy the team posted and you’ll see it was actually a fairly undramatic event. Their boat Te Aihe had completed a jibe and was flying its hull in about 10...
Nov. 21/2019: Here’s a bit of synchronicity. I was only vaguely aware of the La Vagabonde YouTube phenomenon, then became much more interested after I saw how rabid their fans are at the Annapolis show last month. And, of course, like everyone else I’ve been hearing and seeing a lot about Greta Thunberg, the teen...
Oct. 21/2019: I was in New York City last Thursday after test-sailing boats in Annapolis and stopped in to see this show. All I can say is: WOW! Reid was there to greet me, first time I’d seen him live and in-person since we sailed up New York Harbor together on his schooner Anne after he completed...
Oct. 11/2019: Since visiting the America’s Cup 36 scene last month to glimpse the launching of the first new foiling monohull AC75, I’ve noticed three more AC75s have launched, and lo, they have gone airborne too. The first to fly was American Magic’s Defiant (up top), which was launched soon after Team New Zealand’s Te...
Right! We’re getting closer to the interesting part of the run-up to the next America’s Cup, the part where people actually start sailing the boats they will race on. Team New Zealand stole a small march on the other four teams competing in this 36th edition of the event, when it launched the first full-size...
I heard glimmerings of this on the interwebs and immediately contacted Don, who obliged with a detailed release and obituary, most of which I’m publishing below. I don’t want my headline to confuse anyone. Iolaire, when she went down late last month after an accidental jibe off Ibiza, actually did not belong to Don anymore....
I’m just back from a cruise down the coast (of which more later) and during said cruise received the very sad news that yet another old sailing friend has passed on. I first met Mac when he was living with Nim Marsh in Middletown, Rhode Island, back in 1993. He was lying low back in...
I’ll be giving a presentation on behalf of the Gundalow Company this Sunday at 6 pm at the home of Ida McDonnell in Portsmouth, NH. Anyone who’ll be in the area this weekend can sign up here to get a ticket and join in the fun. The event is one of a series, called Gundalow...
I know I’m not the only one interested in the legal adventures of skipper Rick Smith, recently acquitted in federal district court in St. Thomas on a manslaughter charge in the death of David Pontious (see image above), one of his crew members. This truly was a horrible situation. Smith, who sails a 43-foot vintage...
