12 US 22 Intrepid

1978-1979 I sailed aboard Intrepid about 100 days each season. I was the crew boss, responsible for scheduling crew as we were having tryouts. I was also the tactician, and sometime helmsman. additionally I had to make certain the boat was prepared each day.

Gerry Driscoll was the skipper, as good as I have ever sailed with. We raced France 3 again and again, Bic had visiting skippers, Bill Ficker, Lowell North and others. Gerry would quietly say to me , were do you want me to put them, He never lost a start and we failed to be first at the windward mark only once in the two seasons.

CARINA






No story about yachting is complete without “Carina” belonging to the Nyes. There is probably no boat in yachting history that won more races. There were several yachts bearing the name, all belonging to the Nye family. The success was a father,son story, complementing each other perfectly.

I started sailing on the last “Carina”a 48 foot sloop built in 1969, designed by McCurdy&Rhodes. They had been tasked to design a boat that would rate well under any rule and sail fast naturally.(The rating rule was in transition and no one knew exactly what it would be, the existing CCA rule in America was being melded with the RORC rule in the rest of the world.)the boat is still winning races today.
In 1969 of 32 starts I believe there were 29 firsts, the rest were 2nd or 3rd. We won our class in the Trans-atlantic race from Newport to Cork, Ireland. From there we went on to Admiral’s Cup and were part of the winning United States team.
1970 we won the Bermuda Race. and probably the Northern Ocean Racing Trophy, give for a cumulative score based on several races, block Island race, Stamford Vineyard race, Marblehead-Halifax race.
For me the Bermuda race was pier head jump flying in from the intercollegiate national championships.
1971 we sailed the boat across the atlantic again to participate once more in the Admiral’s Cup and Fastnet race.
I only sailed those three seasons on the boat, but it’s indelible mark was with me forever.

america’s cup 1977 Independence



Independence US 28, skippered by Ted Hood. I was the bowman, and responsible for the rig. Conceptually the boat was good but simply not as fast as Courageous. We arrived in Newport with a boat that was just not fast enough. A summer filled with anecdotes of the personalities involved. The last summer of real amateur america’s cup sailing. Turner was unstoppable that year, he won every contest he entered.

It may have been the last year the “America’s cup demitasse” was run. Conceived as a fun event during a layday in the America’s cup summer. Two crew from each boat raced in Dyer Dhows. Turner won, Jobson was second, I came third.

america’s cup jubilee 2001

the America’s Cup Jubilee held in 2001 in Cowes, England. The Woodstock of sailing as it has been described. Was truly a remarkable event. The Royal Yacht Squadron set the standard of how to make people happy. 38 twelve meters assembled in one place for the first time ever; along with so many other fabulous boats. For those of us who love sailing it truly was the best of the best, with no end of the “eye candy”.

White Crusader and Ecosse(USA) sailing upwind. Vanity V with 5 Vargas girls spinnakers;
the crew photo is Olin Stephens with a smile from ear to ear posed with the crew of Nyala sailed by Troben Grail
Columbia, the 1958 defender in the America’s cup aboard which I sailed, in a foul tide with the cliffs of the needles in the background.
Finally a photo of a water spout with Corsica in the background. taken while sailing Columbia from Sardinia to Monaco.
The hardest thing about this post was to limit the photos, I smile to myself every time I think of this event and how fortunate I was to have been able to take part in it.



2003 trans-atlantic race

the 2003 trans-atlantic race from Newport, RI to Hamburg, Germany, sailing aboard “Snow Lion” a 50 foot Nelson/Marek. The race took not quite 20 days. we had 12 days of over 200 miles a day. Our best being 275 miles in 24 hours; unfortunately for us that same 24 hour period one of our competition sailed 475 miles.

once again the fellowship that only the sea can forge was created with this fine group. It is had to cross the Atlantic with out one storm, ours was only 50 knots, as you can see we sailed with the #4 and a double reef in the mainsail, we hit our fastest recorded speed in this combination, at 26 knots.



trans-atlantic 2005

the 2005 trans-atlantic race from New York to Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. aboard”Tempest” the 80 foot S&S ketch, sistership of Kialoa. A crew of sixteen pictured here.

the race took us just short of 15 days. we won our class losing to Leopard of London by a minute and forty seconds on corrected time. one can find a lot of places where we squandered that time.
other crew have written eloquently about the race.
the chart shows our track and that of “Snow Lion” in the 2003 race from Newport to Hamburg, Germany. the significance here is the similarities in the early stages of the race.
lastly, my watch, I was the watch captain, and blessed with the best group one could wish for. naturally we were always faster the the other watches.

college years




the University of Rhode Island sailing team 1966-1970 another great memory remembering how good we once were. As you can see from the photos sailing attire had yet to evolve. the whole environment was a long way from where it is today, nonetheless I would not trade these memories for anything. we won almost everything there was to win. eventually being ranked number two in the nation. never quite making it to number one. most of those pictured are still involved in sailing in some capacity,making contributions to the sport.

1972 Charisma

A few days ago there was a reunion of sorts. a number of the crew of the “glory days” of Charisma the S&S 56 belonging to Jesse Phillips turned up in Newport. I keep fond memories of our days sailing. It all seemed so easy, we all had confidence in one another . In the photo on the left taken during the Bermuda race, a hurricane crossed the course, we had
70 knots over the deck at one point. It was also the moment I decided that I could make a better safety harness.(it’s me in the photo)
the photo taken from the masthead of Charisma during the trans-atlantic race to Spain. A long slow race.
From there we took off to get to Sardinia in time for the first Mediterranean championships, Bill Ficker came and skippered the boat, we won everything.
the bottom photo is of Peter Van dyke and John Browning sailing throught the straits of Gibraltar

sunday sail


Racing a J-105 during the New York Yacht Club race week, the weather was mostly uneventful, however, on sunday a big black cloud appeared over Pt. Judith, the race committee started a race anyway. we had 50 knots shortly after that. we were all a little busy at the time. this photo taken sfter the race was cancelled sets the tone of the moment.