We all know that to compete at the very top level of sailing you need money and lots of it. Well, let’s just say that this new and very exciting sailing event announced this week at a glitzy launch in London there is no lack of money. Larry Ellison is worth an estimated $61.8 billion as is ranked 7th on Forbes list of richest people ...
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I watched a terrific movie last night. It was the kind of movie that would have changed the trajectory of my life had my life not already been on a similar trajectory. The movie was Coyote and it’s the true story of the American sailor Mike Plant and his ambition to win the Vendée Globe. I met Mike many years ago. I was introduced to
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For sailors it was a JFK assassination moment. We can remember exactly where we were to the second when the Australian yacht Australia II gybed over and crossed ahead of the American yacht Liberty. Sailors around the world held their collective breath for the time it took both boats to round the leeward mark and battle their way up the last windward leg of the ...
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| Abhilash Tomy – rescued after being dismasted and injured |
There was some high drama in the Golden Globe Race over the last few days that resulted in two sailors being rescued. It all started last Friday when race founder and organizer Don McIntyre produced a short video for YouTube that showed a number of intense low pressure systems rolling toward some of the competitors ...
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| INEOS TEAM UK |
It appears that I may have to eat my words, well at least some of them, when it comes to the new America’s Cup design. I have been watching some videos of INEOS TEAM UK, the British Challenger for the America’s Cup, and the boat looks quite amazing. They took what was originally a Quant 28 hull and modified it to ...
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I never met Hilary Lister and now it’s too late. This brave sailing icon passed away yesterday after decades of struggling against a degenerative condition that left her wheelchair-bound ...
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Some people become legends for the right reasons and some become legends for the wrong reasons. British sailor Tony Bullimore was a household name in England for both right and wrong reasons. Mostly it was because he survived for almost five days in the upturned hull of his Open 60 sailboat deep in the Southern Ocean. More on that in a bit but before Tony ...
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| The start of the Golden Globe Race |
Isn’t it interesting how life creeps up on us? I remember when I was a kid and they built a new ring-road around the town where I grew up. I thought that they were crazy. There was hardly any traffic on it but these days it’s bumper to bumper. It just happened, slowly and inexorably. The traffic and ...
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The 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race has slipped into the history books and I have to admit, I kind of have withdrawal symptoms. Clicking on the race tracker was starting to ...
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There is a saying, ‘it ain’t over ‘till the fat lady sings’, and for sure this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race was not over until the singing started just ten miles from the finish line in The Hague. For a long while there was just a hum and the tune was in Spanish. Then it softened as Team Brunel made a last minute charge closing to within one mile from Mapfre, the leader, and the hum had a little Dutch mixed in with it. Mapfre and Team Brunel had chosen to sail down the western side of a traffic ...
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