The Cruising Club of America (CCA) honored the extraordinary accomplishments of three intrepid sailors at the annual Awards Dinner on March 4, 2011, at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan. CCA Commodore Sheila McCurdy acted as presenter with Awards Chair Bob Drew.
Alex Whitworth 2010 Blue Water Medalist
The Blue Water Medal was presented to Alexander Whitworth of Sydney, Australia, for his circumnavigation of the world via the Northwest Passage West to East.
The Far Horizons Award was presented to William E. Cook of Hyannis, Mass., for a series of meritorious voyages to the far north of the globe including cruises to Greenland and Baffin Island, Canada.
The Rod Stephens Trophy was accepted by Alessandro Di Benedetto of Rome, Italy, for his resourcefulness in jury rigging Findomestic, a 21-foot monohull, upon his approach to Cape Horn in 2010 during his solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the globe.
Photo Credit: Dan Nerney/ Cruising Club of America
Today was a picture perfect for both competitors and spectators. I am watching all the excitement from a graceful Jenneau Sunfast43. An array of majestic parti-colored spinnakers billowing on a breeze, much gentler today than on day one of the races, propel these magnificent boats downwind. AQUARIUS was a spectacular sight out on the water and we are elated to learn that she finished first in her class.
Thursday saw the crew on board charter yacht AQUARIUS having a great first day of sailing, in which they valiantly defied a 90 minute morning squall. By the time of my evening arrival everyone was in fine form to party, having already finished taking the winches apart and cleaning them after this challenging day of racing.
The party, located at Dutch Sint Maarten’s Port de Plaisance on picturesque Simpson Bay, was tremendous fun, featuring rockin’ music and delightful cuisine. The eclectic crowd included jubilant local families, whose little children danced energetically about the grounds. Not to mention of course, the yacht crews, finally able to relax, drink lots of Heineken and eye the many local beauties. Big screens broadcast videos with highlights of the races.
I had dinner on board an elegant Jeanneau 43, which was moored out in Simpson Bay (a bit of a rolly polly place) and gliding on the water from the marina to the mooring on the dinghy the dense forest of glittering masthead lights was truly breathtaking. I am delighted to report that the number of boats in the harbor has easily doubled from last year, including an array of imposing mega yachts. I anticipate a brilliant day of events tomorrow and will keep you posted, with luck right from the rail!
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) Sailing Foundation’s STP 65 Vanquish will be used in the 2011 All-American Offshore Team (AAOT) Campaign. (Photo Credit Chris Gasiorek)
With the recent establishment of the All-American Offshore Team (AAOT), young American sailors have a unique opportunity to expand their sailing horizons. The AAOT, an extension of the non-profit U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) Sailing Foundation, is committed to providing “high-performance offshore training opportunities for an upcoming generation of American ocean racing leaders” and is currently fund raising and recruiting a team to campaign the Foundation’s STP 65 Vanquish in four key 2011 events: the 66th annual Storm Trysail Club Around Block Island Race; the Annapolis to Newport Race; the Transatlantic Race (Newport, R.I. to the Lizard, U.K.) and the Rolex Fastnet Race (Cowes, U.K. to Plymouth, U.K.).
The AAOT effort is led by Charlie Enright (Bristol, R.I.), Mark Towill (Kaneohe, Hawaii), Jesse Fielding (Wickford R.I.), Chris Branning (Sarasota, Fla.) and Matt Noble (San Francisco, Calif.), who is captain of Vanquish. Enright, Towill, Fielding and Branning helped lead Disney’s Morning Light team, which competed in the 2007 Transpac Race under the tutelage of the late Roy Disney. (Walt Disney Pictures produced a documentary that followed the TP52 Morning Light and its 15-person crew of young sailors, hand-picked from hundreds of resumes, through six months of training and the race itself.)
USMMA Sailing Foundation President Ralf Steitz hatched the idea for AAOT early in January, 2011, when his long-time desire to create a youth-driven effort in the sport of ocean racing was re-awakened by a German youth team entering the Transatlantic Race aboard the Andrews 56 Norddeutche. “I thought ‘if they can do it, why can’t we?’” said Steitz, whose concept was endorsed by USMMA and other leaders in the sailing world, including Oakcliff Sailing Center and the Storm Trysail Club. Steitz added that among the members of a newly forming AAOT Advisory Board are himself, Oakcliff Sailing Center’s Executive Director Dawn Riley and USMMA’s Waterfront Director Chris Gasiorek.
Enright, a four-time Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association All-American at Brown University recently competed in team race championships in Australia and England and took home top marks in the 2010 Caribbean 600. Towill, a senior at Brown University, is an active member of the Brown Sailing Team and after his Morning Light career he sailed in the 2008 Pacific Cup and 2009 Transpac Race. Fielding skippered his University of Rhode Island keelboat team in the 2009 Collegiate World Cup in France and has competed in numerous ocean races including the 2009 Transpac and the 2010 Caribbean 600 Race. Branning, a star navigator in the 2009 IRC East Coast Championships and the 2010 Newport to Ensenada Race, recently took home first place in the 2010 Rolex Middle Sea Race.
In late-May 2011, prior to the Storm Trysail Club Around Block Island Race, the full team will congregate at USMMA headquarters (New York, N.Y.) to participate in a Safety at Sea Seminar and begin practice. In early June, the 2011 AAOT will relocate to Annapolis, Maryland for the start of the Annapolis to Newport Race. Following that, in late June, will be an offshore training session held in Newport, R.I., as the final preparation for the 2,975 nautical mile Transatlantic Race, which takes place in late June 2011 and finishes in the U.K. In August 2011, the team will remain in the U.K. to prepare for the Rolex Fastnet Race, which starts in Cowes.
“Positive support from all corners of the sailing community is needed to get this team off the ground and on to the water,” said Charlie Enright, AAOT’s sailing team manager. “We finally have the chance to shine light on a new generation of offshore sailors and need to seize the opportunity.”
Perhaps you were one of those kids like me, who spent long hours painstakingly assembling and painting precast models of ships, cars or planes using stubborn paints and lethal glue. Building models is a craft that has occupied and fascinated people for centuries. In fact, ship modeling dates back to the ancient civilizations of the Greeks, Egyptians and Phoenicians, who commonly used them as burial votives, household articles, works of art and toys.
During the Middle Ages and Renaissance European ship models of galleys, galleons and carracks showed prospective customers how the full size ship would appear, or persuaded royalty to fund visionaries, like Christopher Columbus, in voyages of discovery and trade. Model ships were also mounted in churches as icons for successful voyages.
During the Dutch Golden Age paintings of the 17th century, a period of intense mariner activity in the Netherlands, ship models were made and used by artists who depicted ships in their commissioned works.
In the early 1800s, French and English seamen who were taken prisoner during the Napoleonic Wars and might be confined for many years, found some relief from monotony by building ship models from hair, rags, scraps of wood and bone. These models became very popularity on the retail market.
By the early 20th century ship models had become quite sophisticated, with wooden hulls and cast lead for anchors, deadeyes, and rigging blocks. By mid century precast metal and plastic models, and radio controlled craft were popular.
Today, many of the major shipbuilders continue to use meticulously accurate and detailed models of the newest concept yachts and ships to entice prospective owners or investors. Some of the most remarkable scale models of cruise ships and megayachts are displayed at industry shows. Both general interest museums and specialized maritime museums worldwide have stunning displays of model ships.
In the United States, the newest exhibit at Connecticut’s renowned Mystic Seaport Museum. From Model to Masterpiece: The Work of Thomas Hoyne and Erik Ronnberg, brings together the maritime paintings of Thomas Hoyne and the ship models created for those paintings by Erik Ronnberg, offering visitors a rare opportunity to see the paintings and models displayed together in the same gallery.
If you want your own exacting yacht replica without the work, a company in Belfast, United Kingdom, produces replicas of museum quality. The company, Model Your Boat, builds amazing models that include scale versions of the TITANIC, launched from Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, the 269 foot Oceanco ALPHA NERO, which riveted public attention at her launch in 2007, and ALINGHI SUI 64, Americas Cup 2003.
For the real experience, ALPHA NERO, and other world-renowned racing and superyachts are available for exclusive charters. Boatbookings.com offers extensive information on charter yachts worldwide at: Super and Mega Luxury Yacht Charter
The Cruising Club of America (CCA) honored the extraordinary accomplishments of three intrepid sailors at the annual Awards Dinner on March 4, 2011, at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan. CCA Commodore Sheila McCurdy acted as presenter with Awards Chair Bob Drew.
