Profiles

Debutante Skipper Wins First MDI Luders Invitational

by Sail Staff, Posted October 26, 2007

Julie Bracken, in her first turn at the tiller of the beautifully restored Spirit, won the three-day MDI Luders Invitational in Southwest Harbor, Maine, by one point over fleet secretary Dave Folger and his teenage daughter Liana in the vintage Voodoo. The Folgers in turn beat fleet newcomer and big-boat veteran Thomas Chase in his recently imported Grace by one point. The

Full-throttle Ahead: Sailing Legend Joins Team Ericson

by Sail Staff, Posted October 22, 2007

The 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race is still more than 11 months out, but teams are gearing up for the world’s most brutal fully crewed ocean showdown. Ericsson Racing Team recently announced that Brazilian sailing legend Torben Grael will be skippering one of their two boats. Grael is replacing American John Kostecki in this role, as Kostecki had to step down because of to family obligations. Grael,

Q&A with John Ross-Duggan

by Sail Staff, Posted November 7, 2005

John Ross-Duggan had a full career ahead of him when he won the Hobie 16 National Championship in 1977, during his third year of medical school. Eight months later, he broke his neck in a car accident and was paralyzed from the neck down. He was 23.After battling through months of therapy to finish medical school and his residency, Ross-Duggan got back to racing

Pirate Reborn

by Kimball Livingston, Posted April 14, 2003

In the early 20th century, R-boat racing attracted the brightest and the best. R's were large enough to be yachts and small enough to be toys. One of the most historic of the lot, Pirate, R11, is being restored in Seattle at the lively Center for Wooden Boats. Pirate was the first West Coast boat to campaign on the East Coast—she won the 1929 nationals at