Crossing Lake Superior and Beyond in a 1/2-ton Boat – published in Sailing magazine’s 25th anniversary issue. Early one July morning in 1986, after three days of dawn-to-dusk motoring, I brought my weary car, an aging 1600 cc Datsun, to a stop above the Lake Superior shoreline in Duluth, Minnesota. I was towing a bright… Continue reading 1986 – A Superior Cruise in a 21′ Trimaran
Category: Multihulls
2007 – Film “Deep Water” Reveals Tragedy of Donald Crowhurst
Documentary of Crowhurst’s “Voyage to Oblivion” – copyright Peter J. Marsh Boating has certainly changed since the 1960s; this was brought home to me when I watched “Deep Water,” an award-winning documentary that arrived in the northwest at the end of summer. Its subject was the 1968-69 Golden Globe race in which a motley crew… Continue reading 2007 – Film “Deep Water” Reveals Tragedy of Donald Crowhurst
2004 – Ellen Macarthur, Young English Star of Solo Racing
How English Sailor Gained International Fame – copyright Peter Marsh The scene in the small French harbor of Les Sables d’Olonne the evening of February 11 was unlike anything ever seen in the world of sailing. An estimated 200,000 people packed the tiny seaport to get a glimpse of France’s unlikeliest new sports star: 24-year… Continue reading 2004 – Ellen Macarthur, Young English Star of Solo Racing
Steve Fossett’s Life on the Edge
Steve Fossett (1944 – 2007) American Sailor, Aviator and Adventurer For over a decade, Steve Fossett galvanized the sailing world with his record-setting exploits at sea, while also surviving many near-death situations while attempting to set records in the air. Now he has apparently died at the age of 63 during a short flight over… Continue reading Steve Fossett’s Life on the Edge
1960-2000 – The Singlehanded Trans-Atlantic Race
“The Ship Would Not Travel Due West” copyright Peter Marsh From the late 1800s until the 1960s, the development of the modern sailing yacht was an evolutionary process, occasionally interrupted by a flash of insight. Racing and cruising yachts were little more than refinements of the last sail-driven fishing schooners. In the first half of… Continue reading 1960-2000 – The Singlehanded Trans-Atlantic Race
The 1964 OSTAR and Me
How I Caught Sailing Fever in Plymoth- Copyright Peter Marsh I was 16 when I read about the second Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (OSTAR) starting in Plymouth, England on 23 May. I knew I had to go, which caused my mother distress because I was doing something completely out of character: skipping my grammar-school education for… Continue reading The 1964 OSTAR and Me
1964 – Racing a 35′ Trimaran in the OSTAR by Derek Kelsall
How a 35′ Piver Trimaran Almost won the 1964 OSTAR – by Derek Kelsall On 16th March, 50 years ago, while in the Bahamas, I made the spur of the moment decision to enter OSTAR, the second single handed trans Atlantic race from Plymouth, UK to Newport R.I. I ordered three hulls from a builder… Continue reading 1964 – Racing a 35′ Trimaran in the OSTAR by Derek Kelsall