SNOW LION BUILD

IN 2005-2006 LARRY HUNTINGTON BUILT A 50 FOOT JASON KER DESIGN AT NEB. LAUNCHED FOR THE 2006 BERMUDA RACE IN WHICH WE WON OUR CLASS.

LONG DISTANCE SAILING

I have raced Dinghys, Big Boats around closed courses with bouys. I enjoyed it enormously. Distance racing is another thing altogether. You use what you learned around the bouys; this is where you are close to other boats and can tell if what you change is right or wrong. in the Ocean you have to have confidence that your choice is the right one. It is unlikely that there will be another boat against which to measure you choices.

I have raced across the Atlantic 9 times. the video below is the last race I sailed; and the quickest crossing ever; for me. I still smile at the memories evoked by the images. In order to have achieved this crossing we had a number of 300+ mile days.

MY LIFE IN BOATS

I assembled this a few years ago because even I forget some of the boats and events I sailed. Still fond memories; and still making more.

LARRY HUNTINGTON

No-one deserves to be nominated more than Larry Huntington. Sailor of the Month really does not justify the lifetime of Love of the Sea. Few have demonstrated a stronger commitment to sailing; particularly offshore long distance racing. His career spans wooden schooners to the latest carbon yachts.

CLICK HERE TO CAST A VOTE FOR LARRY.

another look at the 2015 transatlantic race:

BAND OF BROTHERS

I am about to start my 9th transatlantic race on 7 different boats. I have sailed with a number of people as a result; and have warm memories of each race, each boat, and each and every person.

It is a fraternity that one can only join by competing.

I had news a few days ago that another of that fraternity had died. Peter Van Dyke passed away. A loss to our group.

PETER VAN DYKE, '72 TRANSATLANTIC RACE — PETER VAN DYKE, ’72 TRANSATLANTIC RACE

RICH DUMOULIN '72 TRANSATLANTIC RACE — RICH DUMOULIN ’72 TRANSATLANTIC RACE

COLLEGE AND AMERICA'S CUP — COLLEGE AND AMERICA’S CUP

COUNTDOWN TO THE START TRANSAT 2015

I have previously posted earlier transatlantic races. Here is the 2011 aboard “Snow Lion”

SAILING THROUGH LIFE

This is in response to those who asked:”Who are you?” It is a least a dimension.Boats have always been a part of my life. Naturally interwoven with the story of Newport.

TRANSATLANTIC 2015

transatlantic race 2011 from ws lirakis on Vimeo.

Offshore racing: All-consuming and enormously energizing

Published on April 1, 2014

by Editor

A lot has changed in offshore sailing since Larry Huntington first raced across the Atlantic in 1957. Advances in yacht design, construction and materials have made the boats exponentially faster and more durable. Modern communications enable boats to remain in touch with other competitors and the rest of the world throughout the nearly 3,000-mile journey. But the essence of the adventure remains much the same.

“Going across the Atlantic is a fantastic change of pace from everyday life,” says Huntington, who is a former commodore of the New York Yacht Club, which will co-host the race with the Royal Yacht Squadron, in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Storm Trysail Club.

“It’s a chance to think about what Joseph Conrad wrote about the mystery of the sea. ‘The true peace of God begins at any spot a thousand miles from the nearest land.’ All of that goes through your head as you do this kind of adventure. It’s a wonderful time for reflection. It’s also intensely competitive. I find it all-consuming and enormously energizing.”

So it’s no surprise, that more than a half century after his first trip across the Atlantic, Huntington’s 50-foot Snow Lion was one of the first boats to enter into the 2015 Transatlantic Race, which will start from Newport, R.I., in late June and early July of 2015 and finish at Lizard Point, on the southwestern corner of England.

With 15 months until the first gun is fired from Castle Hill in Newport, R.I., more than 20 boats have entered and nearly 70 others have expressed interest. The fleet for 2015 is expected to reach its limit of 50 boats, nearly double the 26 boats that competed in the race in 2011.

“We’re extremely pleased with the significant early interest in this race,” says Royal Yacht Squadron’s Rear Commodore Yachting David Aisher. “The history of the transatlantic race dates back to the birth of recreational ocean racing in the late 1800s. More than a century later, it remains one of the ultimate tests of yachting skill.”

This will be the third Transatlantic Race for Snow Lion, a 50-foot boat designed by Jason Ker and built in 2006. There is an adage that says distance racers should never sail on any boat that is shorter in feet than their age. Huntington, who will be 80 when the race starts, clearly doesn’t subscribe to that theory.

“I had seen some of Ker’s previous designs and admired how they behaved and looked,” says Huntington. “We kept losing races to other Ker designs, so I figured [building one for myself] was a good thing to do.”

In 2011, it took Huntington’s team more than 15 days to complete the course. While that race was notorious for light and challenging wind conditions, the transatlantic course is still one of the longest regular races open to amateur sailors.

“First and foremost, you need a really compatible, competent crew,” says Huntington of the keys to success. “If you have full confidence in your shipmates, everyone gets the proper amount of rest and then you can address whatever Mother Nature wants to throw at you.”

Race website: www.TransatlanticRace.org

Tags: 2015 Transatlantic Race, Larry Huntington, Snow Lion

– See more at: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2014/04/01/offshore-racing-consuming-enormously-energizing/#sthash.NO8bexoc.dpuf