Marblehead to Halifax a relative success - 14th place out of 75 boats!

The 363 mile Marblehead to Halifax Classic is designed for heavily crewed boats. Some have as many as 16 crew members on board, and those that came in before us had on average some eight to twelve crew members. So we did very well with just two of us to come in 14th place. The next boat with only two crew members is yet to finish, eight hours after we finished.

John James was my crew member. John has sailed with me on the North Sea from Norway to Scotland, and his wife, Rhonda, is the Director of Financial Aid at the University of St. Augustine of which I am the Founding President and now Chancellor. We have campuses in St. Augustine, Florida; Austin, Texas; and San Marcos, California, offering Doctor of Physical Therapy and Master of Occupational Therapy degree programs.

The race was a real challenge. Once again light winds for the most part. In such winds we do not seem to go well especially when they are on the nose and we are required to tack back and forth to make headway. But when the winds picked up to around 15 knots (17 miles per hour), we not only held our own but moved through the boats in our class. However, the winning boat was Rambler, some 90 feet in length compared with our 63, and with a larger crew.

Now in two days, I am off to Lyman Morse for Kiwi Spirit to be made ready for the circumnavigation. I should get her back in a month and re-start my final training and preparation for departure on November 30th on the circumnavigation.

Overall, with three races and line honors (first to finish) in two of them and against multi-crewed boats 14th out of 75, I have to feel good about the boat and about my learning curve. Both have room to improve and I know I will be learning everyday that I am out there.