Lin and Larry Pardey received the Cruising Club of Americaâs 2009 Far Horizons Award in recognition of their lifetime of cruising and voyaging. CCA Commodore Sheila McCurdy presented the award at the clubâs annual Awards Dinner held at the New York Yacht Club in March.
The couple were married in 1968 and began their voyaging life together aboard Seraffyn, a 24-foot Lyle Hess cutter. Starting out in Newport Beach, Calif., they sailed east via the Panama Canal and crossed to Europe. They cruised the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Baltic and Indian Ocean with stops in Japan and Canada before returning to California 47,000 miles later.
Their second circumnavigation was aboard Taleisin, launched in 1983. This voyage took them westward, a circumnavigation that they completed in 2003. The Pardeyâs third circumnavigation began in the Pacific Northwest. Also a westward passage, they completed this one with 80,000 miles under the keel.
All of the Pardeyâs voyaging has been completed on boats they built themselves, without sponsorship or an engine and using only traditional means of navigation. Over the years their articles and books have been a source of inspiration and sound advice for sailors around the world.
Other awards included the Rod Stephens Trophy, presented to Maurice and Sophie Conti for their rescue of the crew of the 32-foot ketch Timella on Oct. 12, 2008, 60 miles from Suva, Fiji.
The Blue Water Medal was awarded to Annie Hill and Trevor Robertson in recognition of their voyaging exploits. The couple sailed Iron Bark, a 35-foot steel gaff cutter from 2007-2009 cruising New Zealand, Tasmania and Queensland, Australia.
The Richard S. Nye Trophy was presented to John P. Rousmaniere for bringing distinction to the CCA as a sailor, writer and yachting historian. His books include Fastnet Force 10, A Berth to Bermuda, The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, Desirable and Undesirable Characteristics of Offshore Yachts and countless articles.
