Lifestyle

Gesturing toward an oil painting rich with painterly light, French maritime historian Daniel Charles declares, “Monet was an observant sailor, and the boat that we see here would have been the first he had seen that was rigged the new way. A painting such as this is not only art, it is a textbook.”

The wind was howling, the tall, young trees outside the motel window roared as they whipped from side to side, and the sturdy building shook nervously.

On May 8, 2013, Gerry Hughes, a Scottish schoolteacher who has been deaf since birth, sailed his Beneteau 42s7, Quest III, into Troon, Scotland, becoming the first deaf skipper to circumnavigate the globe singlehanded.

When a team of UK-based scientists learned that the population of the Earth’s marine phytoplankton had declined 40 percent since 1950, they set out to find the cause. Phytoplankton is the ocean’s primary producer, and a decrease in its population could mean trouble for oxygen production, food chain supply and climate regulation.

For the first time since its creation in 1986, this year’s ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) sailors will have a choice of routes after leaving the Canary Islands in November. The newly created ARC+ will include a three- to five-day stopover in Minelo, Cape Verde Islands.

Summer Sailstice is relaunching its website Summersailstice.com in time for its 13th celebration of the year’s longest weekend of daylight right before the Summer Solstice on June 22.

The Summer Sailstice is here again! This Saturday, June 22, marks the longest day of the year and therefore, the day with the most possible hours of sunlight during which sailors can enjoy their boats with their fellow sailors.   

Three Somali pirates are standing trial on charges of murdering four U.S. yachtsmen in February 2011. Jean and Scott Adam, Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay were taken hostage at sea when 18 Somali pirates boarded their yacht.

Jimmy Cornell will be adding another rally to his list of sailing accomplishments: The Atlantic Odyssey, which will preface his round-the-world Blue Planet Odyssey.

Ohio-based Tartan Yachts will be supporting the 2014 Gay Games in Cleveland by building 20 boats for the sailing portion of the world’s largest LGBT multi-sport event.