Sail Magazine

by Kimball Livingston

All on assignment, Kimball Livingston has sailed the oceans blue. And he's been to Fink, Texas, too.

Weta Trimaran

by Kimball Livingston, Posted July 7, 2009

The breeze was mild, but still it made an impression to see Dave Bernsten walk away from the tiller of his 14-foot trimaran, step to the bow, fiddle with an adjustment, then mosey back aft and resume his duties at the helm. The moment speaks to the value proposition of the Weta as stable and forgiving, a viable family playground that will crank out speed thrills when the

Second Chance

by Kimball Livingston, Posted April 7, 2009

I see that various pundits are ruminating upon a course of sagacity, wisdom and compromise for our America's Cup antagonists, Misters Bertarelli and Ellison, urging them to come to terms and launch what both profess to be the goal, a match to match 2007.Well and good. I'll believe it when I see it.All Bertarelli had to do, at the end of the 32nd match for the America's

Red River, Interrupted

by Kimball Livingston, Posted March 9, 2009

Off the bow I could see Oklahoma. I looked over the stern, and yonder was Texas. Around me whitecaps were building on a special lake that splits the difference between two be-all, end-all rivals, and the name of that body of water says it all. Texoma. Mythology meets mixology.Surely you know the scripture: “Don’t mess with Texas.”Surely you know the Oklahoma

The year that was and wasn't

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 5, 2009

It says something about sailing’s prospects as a sport that 2008 left us with three round-the-world races under way at the same time. As we look to nail down just what that means, do keep your thumbs clear of the hammer.Certainly sailboat racing is as incoherent as ever in its public face. Hard-core fans have no trouble, or not so much, separating a crewed circumnavigation (the

Caribbean Class

by Kimball Livingston, Posted January 20, 2009

How do you spot a happy European sailor?The Caribbean tan.How do you spot a happy American sailor?Surely you have my drift.When it’s overcoat weather in St. Tropez or Green Bay, it’s time for Martinique. St. Barts. St. Lucia. Key West. Any place from Florida south. And if you’re looking to race, no problem. The 7,000 isles, reefs, and cays of the

Nick Scandone Dies

by Kimball Livingston, Posted January 2, 2009

There's a saying in aviation, a code of honor:Fly it all the way to the scene of the crash. Nick Scandone was no pilot, but surely no one ever lived out such a creed more fully.Nick died in the early hours Friday, an event entirely foreseen and unavoidable. He had ALS, which cripples and then kills. What Nick did with his ALS, however, was set an example of how to live.

Feeling Blessed

by Kimball Livingston, Posted December 19, 2008

Here’s what hit me on my last trip to Catalina. It happened on the wrap-up night of a Seawind Catamaran rendezvous, and we were six cats abreast, rafted in cozy Cat Harbor across a narrow neck from Isthmus Cove. The few scattered lights ashore stole little from a starry sky. The guitars and the singing went on for a bit. A few dozen people were sated by a potluck spread (and whatever else). Tales

Ericsson 4 Goes 2 for 2

by Kimball Livingston, Posted November 29, 2008

Call him Torben Grael. That's his name.Or call him Torben Grail . He has the golden touch, and now as skipper of Ericsson 4 he has won two of two legs of the Volvo Ocean Race. The five-time Olympic medalist (two gold) was also tactician for the Luna Rossa challenge for the 2007 America's Cup.He and his crew brought Ericsson 4 across the leg-two finish line at Cochin,

Buckin' Volvos

by Kimball Livingston, Posted November 19, 2008

Leg Two, a pleasant jaunt north through the tropics to exotic India? At some point, part of the way, maybe. Not now. The Volvo Ocean Race fleet left Cape Town last weekend and deliberately worked into the path of a series of low pressure systems to blast them east toward their scoring gate.For some, it's been an overachievement.A broken boom on Green Dragon. Plus a broken

2008 World Sailors of the Year

by Kimball Livingston, Posted November 16, 2008

British Olympian Ben Ainslie, just days after competing in AC class racing in Valencia, has been named ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year at the 2008 ISAF General Assembly in the Spanish capital of Madrid. Ainslie won his third gold medal at the Qingdao Olympiad (he also has a silver in the Laser) with an overwhelmingly confident win in the Finn dinghy. Ainslie, 31, is the first