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Category Archives: Ocean Racing & Records
Jeff MacFarlane’s Rough Road to 203 Mini Transat
Jeffrey Macfarlane, 31, grew up in Michigan then spent over a decade in offshore racing, with a long stretch in Australia on boats like the well-known maxi Wild Oats. In 2012, he crossed the Atlantic twice, on the Open 60, … Continue reading
When Slo-mo-shun Set the World Record in Seattle!
There’s not a week goes by these days without someone on some kind of a boat trying to set a record for speed or distance. They may using human/wind/motor/solar power, or trying some novelty event like “largest boat tie-up.” That’s … Continue reading
Posted in NW boats and boaters, Ocean Racing & Records
Tagged seattle, Slo-mo-shun, world water speed record
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Ice Bird, Hero, Calypso at Palmer in 1972
Three remarkable craft made an unplanned rendezvous on the Antarctica Peninsula at Palmer Station in the summer of 1972. The 125′ American research vessel Hero and the 154′ ex-WW II minesweeper Calypso were both traditional wooden vessels while the 32′ … Continue reading
Posted in Cruising, Ocean Racing & Records, Sailors & Yachts, Worth Reading
Tagged David Lewis, jacques cousteau
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Is the Clipper Race a “Sporting Cult?”
The Clipper Race changes lives–but at what cost? Joining the Clipper Race is a serious step that leads a novice or wanna-be sailor on a long, very expensive path away from family and friends into an isolated world full of … Continue reading
Posted in Ocean Racing & Records, Opinion, Sailors & Yachts
Tagged clipper race critic, clipper race skeptic
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The Cutty Sark Sails into the 21st Century
In 2008, the world’s only surviving clipper ship, the Cutty Sark, suffered a disastrous fire that came close to destroying the entire hull in its permanent drydock beside the River Thames in Greenwich. This news was especially shocking for me … Continue reading
Posted in Nautical History, Ocean Racing & Records, Sailing Ships
Tagged cutty sark preservation, robo ship
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2016: 25 Years Since Gerard d’Aboville’s Trans-Pacific Row
How Astoria Made the National News–in France! It was 25 years ago at the end of November 1991 that a French adventurer arrived off the Columbia River after an incredible voyage from Japan. He was 46-year old Gerard d’Aboville and … Continue reading
Posted in Ocean Racing & Records, Opinion, Worth Reading
Tagged Gerard d'Aboville, ocean rowing
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2016: Every Sailor is a Winner in the Vendée Globe
An Introduction to the 2016 Vendee Globe This Sunday, a one of sailing’s greatest challenges begins in Les Sables d’Olonne, France: the Vendée Globe. The Vendée is a solo, non-stop, unsupported race around the world. Pacific Northwest writer and photographer, Peter Marsh, is a … Continue reading
Posted in Ocean Racing & Records
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2008: No Tea on the “Tea Route” Record Breaker!
Published in Scuttlebutt Euope, 28 Sept. 2008 About this latest so-called “Tea Route” Record: like many sailing fans, I have followed the progress of Lionel Lemonchois and the crew of the 110′ catamaran Gitana 13 on their stop-and-go voyage around … Continue reading
Posted in Multihulls, Ocean Racing & Records, Opinion
Tagged china london sea route, gitana, Tea route record
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2010: Multihulls from the Stone Age to the New Age
For many years they were a nautical oddity, their owners dismissed by the traditional yachting world as cranks and dreamers, but no longer! Today cruising catamarans and trimarans (collectively referred to as “multihulls”) can’t be ignored. They can be found … Continue reading
2010: Woody Brown (1912-2008) — father of the modern catamaran
Although cruising catamarans have really taken off in the last 10 years, Hawaiians have always known about the benefits of the “double canoe.” Legendary surfer and former glider pilot Woody Brown was. inspired by outrigger canoes he saw in the … Continue reading
Posted in Multihulls, Ocean Racing & Records
Tagged manu kai, rudy choy, woody brown
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