Day: August 13, 2008

Guinevereous Liraki



The British Museum of Natural History gave each yacht entered in the 1968 trans-atlantic race a log book asking each crew to record sightings of mammals including where,when, and under what conditions the sightings occurred. There were many sightings, I had forgotten until now, I described the porpoise in the photo, Geroge Moffett, the owner of the boat turned the log in at the end of the race. About a year later he wrote to me that the porpoise had been identified as a unique species within the family of Phocoenidae and that the Museum had attributed it the name “Guinevereous Liraki”

I have no substantiation of the story as I have long ago lost the letter.

windsurfing



I had the first windsurfer on the East coast(sail #48) and won the first New England Championships, which qualified me for the world championship held on Mission Bay, San Diego,CA.(November 1972) I finished sixth, six points out of first, tight racing. As a consequence, I became friendly with Hoyle and Diane Schewitzer;having many wonderful adventures with them. Hoyle has been credited with inventing the sport and the board.

This is a photo of me winning the New England Sunfish Championships, unfortunately I do not remember the date.

Lirakis safety Harness




The 1972 Bermuda race convinced me there was a better design for a safety harness, I am an inveterate tinkerer, always trying to improve on something. Simplicity is the key. Over the next few years I worked in my spare time on developing and refining my ideas. The first harness was sold in 1978. Shortly thereafter I left my job and started producing them full time, I continued to sail until finally the company grew to the point where I was forced to choose.

The harness was simplicity itself; which made it practical and user friendly in today’s words. It was followed shortly by the bosun’s chair, which brought the position of the bowman on a boat into the modern world. It redefined the responsibilities and activities of the man on the bow. Again it just made sense.
The Business continue to expand into many other areas, and responsibilities followed, sailing became a distant memory, but never gone.