Chatter - Ocean Navigator

Golden Globe front runner loses self-steering

At 1815 UTC on January 27, 2022 Golden Globe racer Simon Curwen alerted the race committee that he’d broken his Hydrovane self-steering gear. He had been in first place 1,200 miles northwest of Cape Horn, had just weathered a deep depression with 40-knot winds and 20-foot seas and had started sailing comfortably again when Clara, his Biscay 36, surged off a post-storm wave and sheered a shaft between wind vane and steering unit. The Hydrovane website shows this part is not included in the recommended offshore spare parts kit and, to save weight, Curwen did not carry an extra. Southern…

Sails for shipping

It took less than a century for steam-powered ships to replace sailing ships for cargo carrying. For a brief time the great clippers were fitted with engines but ultimately they couldn’t compete and disappeared by the end of the 19th century. At least in the Western world, trade has been carried on through engine-powered vessels ever since. Now with concerns over climate change the carbon footprint of fossil fuels is coming under fire in shipping as it is in all sectors of transportation where engines are used. The International Maritime Organization’s updated mandatory carbon-reduction measures call for cutting the carbon…

NYC back from the brink

Most yacht clubs have plenty of members ready to share the tasks of club administration. What about a small club in a remote place? What happens when a tiny club doesn’t have the membership to continue? That was the situation facing the tiny Niue Yacht Club (somewhat ironically referred to by the initials of one of the largest cities in the world) on the South Pacific island of Niue, a 100-square mile coral outpost sited 326 nautical miles northeast of Tonga and 1,295 nautical miles northeast of New Zealand. Luckily for voyagers who visit NYC’s mooring field and simple clubhouse,…

The Golden Globe Race loses a boat

Fifty-four years after Robin Knox-Johnston won the first round-the-world solo sailing race, organizers are again in the midst of a Golden Globe Race. And now one boat in the race has been lost in spectacular fashion. All vessels must be production boats between 32 and 36 feet with an underbody like Knox-Johnston’s Suhaili, which was based on a full-keel Colin Archer design with keel-hung rudder. GGR skippers can only use the kinds of navigation equipment available on Suhaili, including sextants and trailing logs for speed. On September 4th, 2022, 16 boats crossed the starting line at les Sables d’Olonne. By…

CUBAR 2022

The 2022 Cruise Underway to Baja Rally (CUBAR) wrapped up on November 13th, with 25 motor yachts completing the 950-mile journey from San Diego to La Paz. CUBAR is organized by San Diego Yacht Club and runs every other year. The all-volunteer CUBAR committee helps participants with customs and immigration for Mexico, provides a courtesy vessel safety inspection, safety and cruising seminars, and coordinates lots of social activities along the way. The 2022 CUBAR kicked off with a send-off party on Oct 28th, with a departure for Ensenada on October 30th. After completing customs and immigration at Hotel Coral Marina,…

Florida deals with derelict boats

If you’ve ever sailed or driven through the Sunshine State you know that we have a lot of boats here. At last count there are over one million registered recreational vessels throughout the state, which makes Florida the nation’s number one home of pleasure craft. But not all of them are floating. Along with the surfeit of boats and marinas the state also has had a long-standing problem with derelict and “at risk” vessels: those that are abandoned, sunk or in danger of sinking — not to be confused with liveaboard and transient boats that may be anchored nearby. In…

US Sailing Report on Newport Bermuda fatality

On June 19, 2022, Colin Golder, owner and skipper of the Centurion 42 Morgan of Marietta, drowned while participating in the Newport to Bermuda race. Death in high-profile sailing events provides an opportunity for the sport to reassess itself and the race hosts asked US Sailing to review the incident and make recommendations aimed at enhancing the safety of offshore racing. In October 2022, the US Sailing panel released its report. The panel started with outlining the facts of the Golder’s death. At the start on June 17 winds were 15 to 20 knots predicted to increase to 20 to…

Pacific Cup results

The 21st running of the Pacific Cup (co-sponsored by Ocean Navigator) from San Francisco Bay to Kaneohe, Hawaii is in the books, with 56 boats finishing out of a fleet of 60 starters. Overall winner and first to finish was Roy P. Disney’s Pyewacket 70. It also recorded the fastest elapsed time, and first in Alaska Airlines Division A. Just behind Pyewacket was Stu Dahlgren’s Santa Cruz 70 Westerly, which claimed second place in the division and also second place overall. Westerly also won the Bill Lee award for the fastest of the Bill Lee-designed yachts. Amazingly, Westerly suffered keel…

AI ships could present challenge to voyagers

In early June one ship crossed half the Pacific Ocean and one ship crossed the entire Atlantic Ocean while not under command of a human captain. The success of these two very different artificial intelligence (AI) voyages has the potential to change not only the future of global shipping, but also the playing field for ocean-going recreational boats. On June 5 after a 40-day passage from Plymouth, UK, Mayflower Autonomous Ship entered Halifax Harbor in Nova Scotia. Named after the original Mayflower to commemorate the 1620 pilgrim crossing, the new ship is powered by twin 20 kilowatt permanent-magnet electric motors…

US Sailing convenes panel on Newport/Bermuda Race death

At the request of the Newport/Bermuda Race organizing committee, U.S. Sailing convened a panel in early July to investigate the death of Newport Bermuda racer Colin Golder of New Providence, New Jersey. Golder, who was skippering the boat Morgan of Marietta, a 42-foot sloop, died on June 19 when he fell overboard 325 miles from Bermuda in strong winds. Following an extensive search, the crew of Morgan of Marietta was able to recover Golder’s body. According to a post on the Newport/Bermuda Race web site: “The panel looks to fact-find on contributing factors including, weather conditions, crew experience, safety regulations…