Profiles

I am pretty sure the Johnstone brothers never imagined creating anything so very successful as the J/Boats, Inc., that we know today. But imagining success on some level—that would come naturally to Rod, the designer and to Bob, the marketer. Long before J/Boats became the Johnstone family business, sailing was a family passion. Then came a case of left brain meeting right brain and—Don’t

In July 1965, at the age of 16, Robin Lee Graham set out on a 33,000-mile, five-year circumnavigation aboard his Bill Lapworth-designed 24ft sloop Dove. National Geographic magazine famously covered the voyage, which spawned two best-selling books—Dove and Home Is The Sailor—a children’s book and a 1974 Hollywood movie, The Dove.In recent years, another

We were preparing to pass Ambrose Light, the traditional starting point for record attempts from New York City. The wind was gusting over 25 knots, and we had reefed the mainsail and were flying a mid-sized jib. Bearing away to cross the starting line, our boatspeed shot up to 20 knots—and pretty much stayed there for the next four days. I’ve done plenty of sailing over the years—multihull

Walking toward his ride for the solo Transpac, Ronnie Simpson slowed us down to point out that the mast of his 30-footer is taller than the mast of the 35-footer next door. I like this guy. He made one fast passage through youth—Enlisted in the Marines. Got blown up by an RPG in a firefight outside Fallujah at age 19. Medi-vac’d out in a coma. Slowly, eventually, recovered (enough).

Sixteen-year-old solo sailor Abby Sunderland has been located adrift in the Indian Ocean and a French fishing boat is on its way to rescue her.According to Sunderland’s family, an Australian search and rescue team has made contact with Abby and she is not injured. Her boat Wild Eyes, however, has been dismasted, and Australian authorities estimate it could be another day before

Few sailors are as genetically predisposed to sailing as Andrew Campbell, 26, of San Diego. Both sets of grandparents were E-scow sailors, and his parents—both active J/105 sailors—are highly encouraging of their son’s Olympic dreams. Andrew’s father, Bill Campbell, has sailed in three America’s Cups (1983 with Courageous, 1992 with America3 and 1995 with Nippon

Few sailors are as genetically predisposed to sailing as Andrew Campbell, 26, of San Diego. Both sets of grandparents were E-scow sailors, and his parents—both active J/105 sailors—are highly encouraging of their son’s Olympic dreams. Andrew’s father, Bill Campbell, has sailed in three America’s Cups (1983 with Courageous, 1992 with America3 and 1995 with Nippon

Over 300 supporters came out to honor the American skipper Rich Wilson on on April 7th for his contribution to American sailing and youth education. Wilson, the 60-year old skipper of Great American III and math teacher from Boston, is best known for his participation in the 2008-9 Vendee Globe race, where he finished 9th after 121 days. But the skipper’s