Merlin Runs Away With the St. Pete-Havana - Sail Magazine

Merlin Runs Away With the St. Pete-Havana

Author:: Peter Swanson
Publish date:: Feb 28, 2018

Merlin lies alongside at Marina Hemingway in Havana after a speedy run from St. Petersburg.

“Sails like a witch,” New Englanders used to say about a particularly nimble and speedy craft. The same could be said of wizards. At 7:20 a.m. Merlinarrived at Marina Hemingway as part of the revived St. Petersburg-Havana Race, and she was nearly 12 hours ahead of the second boat, a catamaran.

Merlin, built by Bill Lee, is one 20 boats that started this year’s race, which was revived in 2017 after a 58-year hiatus. She averaged 5.7 knots over the approximately 280 miles between start and finish.

Ultimately, she ended up winning both line and handicap honors.

That Merlin is swift should surprise no one. In 1977, Merlin completed a roughly 2,560-mile TransPac ocean race, setting a record that would endure for 20 years.

Tracking software shows Merlin at rest with the rest of the fleet miles away.

For details, visit http://spychabanarace.com

February 2018

Related

USCGReadyForRescue_Identifier_FullColor

The U.S. Coast Guard is now collaborating with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on something it calls the “Ready for Rescue,” a $255,000 prize competition that is looking for ways that will make it easier to locate people, MOB victims in particular, in the water.The ...read more

04-CLR1718md1085-jpg

This past summer Australian sailor, Wendy Tuck (inset), became the first woman to win a round-the-world yacht race when she and her crew aboard Sanya Serenity Coast claimed the overall victory in the 2017-18 Clipper Race. “I am just so happy,” Tuck said at the finish in ...read more

daviscards

CHECK THESEIf you’re sailing with new crew this summer or your kids have suddenly and inexplicably started to look up from their phones and take an interest in the finer points of cruising, these Quick Reference Cards from Davis are a great way to further their boating education. ...read more

01-rbir18-596

There are basically two kinds of offshore sailboat races out there: those that take place annually, like the Fastnet and Chicago-to-Mackinac races; and those that take place every other year, like the Transpac and Newport-Bermuda race, in part so the competitors have sufficient ...read more

GearSterio

Electronics and Navigation

TOUCHSCREEN STEREONew Zealand audio specialists Fusion has introduced the first-ever marine stereo with a glass touchscreen display. The Apollo RA770 sets a high bar for boat entertainment systems; among a host of other features it has built-in WiFi streaming and features ...read more

01b_WALKING-KEDGE-OUT-cmykpromo

If you are cruising, you need at least two anchors on board for the simple reason that you must have a backup. Imagine having to slip your anchor on a stormy night with other boats dragging down on yours, or having your rope rode severed by some unseen underwater obstacle, ...read more

SailAwayCharter

So you graduated from navigation class where you practiced dead reckoning, doubling the angle on the bow and maybe even celestial nav, and you now feel well prepared for your first charter trip. Well, you won’t be doing any of that on vacation—not past the first day, anyway.Most ...read more

04-Turtle-rescue

Strange and often wonderful things can happen in the course of an offshore sailboat race, and one of the strangest and most wonderful things we’ve heard of recently took place during the 2,300-mile 2018 Vic-Maui race, from Victoria, British Columbia, to Lahaina, Hawaii.It ...read more