Profiles

Different Strokes: A profile of multihull designer Chris White

by Charles J. Doane, Posted May 22, 2013

Chris White, when I first meet him, doesn’t seem like a guy who maybe, just maybe, is on the verge of revolutionizing multihull rig design. I’ve met a lot of yacht designers over the years, and I know that’s what many of them would be telling me right now, flat out, without any maybes. But not Chris.

The Liveaboard: Gus Hancock aboard his aluminum sloop

by David Schmidt, Posted May 20, 2013

Gus Hancock, 73, of Chicago, began sailing with his father in an Old Town canoe in 1950. A deserted beach, a tarp and a campfire were their accommodations during early cruises on Barnegat Bay before they garage-built a 16-foot wooden daysailer. Offshore adventures followed, including Newport-Bermuda races and cruises to the Bay of Fundy in the 1960s. In 1970, Gus crewed on a Cal 37 in the Los Angeles to Tahiti Transpac Race and spent the summer cruising Tahiti, the Tuamotus, the Marquesas and Hawaii.

Ronnie Simpson: Blue Water Warior

by Kimball Livingston, Posted April 25, 2013

Ronnie Simpson sold all that he had, and he went. But it was no cakewalk. After I had known him a while, he told me, “I have less than I’ve ever had, and I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”

A Conversation with Roger Swanson

by David Schmidt, Posted March 28, 2013

Rare is the sailing resume that boasts 217,928 miles, three circumnavigations, multiple voyages through the Arctic and Antarctic and the first east-west crossing of the Northwest Passage by an American-flagged sailboat.

Skippering The Smallest Boat Around the World

by Lauren Saalmuller, Posted February 28, 2013

At 74 years old, Sven Yrvind wants to save the world. When I ask him how he plans to do it, his answer is simple: circumnavigate in a ten-foot sailboat. If—or rather, according to Sven, when—he accomplishes this, he will have skippered the smallest boat to circle the world.

Gun-toting Granny's Solo Transpac

by Susan Meckley, Posted February 22, 2013

“Help! I can’t see land anywhere. My kids were right, I’m going to die!” This was the panic-stricken thought that jumped into my head that first night as I left Mexico and headed toward Hawaii alone.

In Search of an Iceberg

by Maura Flaherty, Posted February 20, 2013

Teresa Carey and her husband, Ben, plan to release their documentary film, One Simple Question, to film festivals this summer. The film follows the couple as they move aboard their Bristol Channel Cutter 28 Elizabeth and set sail in search of a mammoth iceberg adrift in the North Atlantic.

Liz Clark: Surfer, Sailor, Explorer

by Maura Flaherty, Posted January 14, 2013

Liz Clark, 32, longtime sailor and surfer, spent the last six years fulfilling her lifelong dream of sailing around the world, or just about. While Clark didn’t make it all the way around, she navigated most of the South Pacific Ocean solo on board her Cal 40 Swell.

The Self-Taught: Distance Cruiser David Tunick

by David Schmidt, Posted November 29, 2012

Rather than junior sailing lessons, David Tunick, 68, of New York City, learned sailing by “on-the-job” experience. While his family drove powerboats, he and a friend bought a Lightning in 1966 and started “sleeping-bag cruising.”

Alaska Dreamer: A Conversation with Elsie Hulsizer

by David Schmidt, Posted October 26, 2012

Sailing has always been a priority for Elsie Hulsizer, 66, of Seattle, Washington. Her love affair with Northwest sailing was launched when she was 12 and her father built an 18-foot Robert’s Knockabout.