Ocean Racing

VOR: Boston in-port races

by David Schmidt, Posted May 11, 2009

The Volvo Ocean Race has been in Boston since the leg winner, Ericsson 4 crossed the finishing line off of Fan Pier on Sunday, April 26. On Saturday, May 9, seven Volvo Open 70's lined up for the in-port racing, held in the waters between Boston and Marblehead, MA. Sadly for the home team, Puma Ocean Racing, Telefonica Blue, a Spanish-flagged entry, walked away with the

Robo-boat

by Sail Staff, Posted May 7, 2009

A solo-transatlantic journey is no easy undertaking, but try doing it without any crew at all. A group of students from ETH Zurich in Switzerland are currently testing a fully autonomous sailboat that’s theoretically able to reach any destination on its own. At just over 13 feet LOA and 1100 pounds, the Avalon robotic sailboat will be competing against 11 other

Marblehead-Halifax race

by Charles Mason, Posted April 30, 2009

First time participants in this year’s 360 mile Marblehead-Halifax Ocean Race, which gets underway from Marblehead, Massachusetts on July 5, will be getting a lot of help from the host Boston Yacht Club. To attract more entries, Boston’s event committee has come up with a Race Buddy program that pairs first-time skippers with those who have done the race one or more times. Newcomers will

Two-part podcast with Ken Read

by David Schmidt, Posted April 28, 2009

Ken Read is self-described as the “luckiest man alive” as far as his current job, skipper of Puma Ocean Racing’s il mostro in this year Volvo Ocean Race. Currently, Read and il mostro are sitting in third place by a comfortable point margin (11 points), but more importantly they are locked in a death battle with Telefonica Blue for second place, with only a

Shipping to Boston

by David Schmidt, Posted April 16, 2009

If you’re into Celtic punk, you’re familiar with the Dropkick Murphys song, “I’m Shipping up to Boston”, a tune that twangs many sailor’s heart strings for a bygone era of wooden ships, men of steel, and onboard accommodations that defined the term “lacking.” In this song, written by Woodie Guthrie, a fictitious sailor loses his leg climbing the topsails while sailing up to

Sixth-Annual MacMan Challenge

by Tom Nunlist, Posted April 15, 2009

The Mackinac Island Yacht Club will have its 6th annual MacMan Challenge July 23-25 this summer. The 125-mile distance race runs from Mackinac Island to Manitoulin Island, with a stopover in Gore Bay, before heading on to the finishing line in Little Current, and includes nighttime

Sagarmatha of the Southern Ocean

by David Schmidt, Posted April 6, 2009

Sherpas call Mount Everest Sagarmatha, “the mountain so high that no bird can fly over it”. Western sailors know the Vende Globe—a non-stop, solo, around-the-world race sailed on wildly powerful, lightweight 60-footers—as sailing’s Mount Everest. Study the attrition rate in this year’s race—19 of the original 30 boats dropped out, many in the stormy waters of the Southern Ocean—and you realize

Hometown high

by David Schmidt, Posted April 3, 2009

When the Volvo Ocean Race calls on Boston Harbor in May, every weekend sailor in the region will have a chance to sniff the air around a grand prix circus. So how did Boston "steal" the US stopover? We turned to the instigator, Bill Lynn of Marblehead, Massachusetts, an unassuming ace Etchells sailor and co-operator of Atlantis Weather Gear. He also has a background in

Sailing, Wyoming style

by Sail Staff, Posted April 2, 2009

Plenty of sailors dream of sailing around the world, but far fewer actually cast off and venture forth. Crystal Corthell, 18, of Rock Springs, Wyoming, is a young woman who enjoys snowmobiling, visiting with family, and dreaming big. Her sailing experiences to date have been limited to trips on Canada’s Ghost Lake, Nevada’s Lake Meade, and San Diego Bay aboard her family’s

Ericcson 4 wins in-port race at Qingdao

by Sail Staff, Posted February 11, 2009

Here's a look at the in-port racing action that took place during the Volvo Ocean Race's stopover in Qingdao, China. Photos courtesy of Oskar Kihlborg/Ericsson Racing Team: