TRAVEMUNDE 1968

The finish of the 1968 trans-atlantic race was in Travemunde, West Germany; having started in Bermuda, a week after the finish of the Bermuda Race. It is known as the Monte Carlo of the north.

It is important to put this in historical context. The photograph of what appears to be a field is really a road fenced off and protected by land mines. The Family of our assigned host was still on the "other" side. I would run in the morning on the beach until I arrived at the fence, land mines, and the guard with a dog and a machine gun. It gave reality to the plight Europe had experienced and as a young American; I had only read about in a history book.

The Germans were extraordinary hosts. ( I had occasion to experience this again in 2003 in Hamburg)The easy formality I did not fully appreciate at the time.

Another of the crew, in fact a classmate and myself had the clever idea to cash in our airplane tickets home and buy a car, the plan would be to re-sell the car at the end of the summer and re-purchase tickets home. This decision resulted in many adventures. The engine blew up on the highway in Denmark. As you may have guessed we lost our investment. I can look back today with a smile;at our youthful indiscretion. The stories of foolishness are more often than not, amusing.

ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON

The Royal Yacht Squadron was founded in June 1815; long considered the most prestigious yacht club, perhaps in the world.

Some years ago, I bought at auction two volumes pictured here, "Burnets Own Times" 1838. Opening the front cover I found a do not take label. I contacted the RYS librarian concerning these tombs. The response was one wondering how it could be that I might have possession of these books. A tone I initially interpreted as accusatory . I recovered from this thought and in 2005 at the finish of the Trans-atlantic race co-hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron , I returned the books to the Club.

602 MILES IN 24 HOURS

Ericsson 4 has sailed 602 miles in 24 hours. wow

585 miles in 24 hours

Ericsson 4 the Volvo 70 with skipper Torben Grael has sailed 585 miles in 24 hours; a new monohull record. Rumor is that they may exceed 600 miles iin the next 24 hours. This is a really hard thing to accomplish; to be able to maintain these speeds for extended periods of time. It is the adrenalin rush that keeps crews returning for the punishment they receive in return.

Speedboat, probably could not achieve these speeds, except under ideal conditions, strong wind well aft, a regular sea state, not too confused. And then probably not for several days in a row.

BOOKPLATE

I have been working on this for years. My bookplate. As with so many things I worked around it until I realized what I wanted, I already 
had. The finished product has the lettering on it. 

I am sure everyone has now realized that Speedboat dropped out of their trans-atlantic record attempt. Conceptually the coolest boat on earth. 

New York Yacht Club Race Week 2008

In July, I raced on J-109 belonging to Peter Rugg.I had previously written about the exciting Sunday, our final day of the regatta. The forecast was for intense thunderstorms. we managed racing in the morning, when powerful clouds appeared over Pt. Judith; the race committee chose to start a race, anyway. I was too busy on the boat to get photographs. These are from a boat that was nearby; caught by the same storm.

VIRGIN MONEY aka SPEEDBOAT

Speedboat left today from New York in an attempt to break the monohull powered winch trans-atlantic record. Aboard is an all star crew headed by Mike Sanderson.

I freely confess that I am envious. Six days across the Atlantic is exciting and not so hard. In my opinion the hard part on this boat, will be not breaking it. In other words press as hard as you can without reaching the limits of the boat.;ie. never redlining.Speedboat is much larger than a Volvo 70 used in the Round the World race, however she is more fragile, not built for the punishment the Volvo 70's are.

I will be following their progress with interest and envy.