The Cruising Club of America awarded Randall Reeves the 2020 Blue Water Medal for his solo Figure-8 voyage. The Figure-8 comprises a loop around the American continents and a loop around the Antarctic, keeping the Americas to port and Antarctica to starboard. The voyage was completed in a single season, beginning and ending in San Francisco and had never been done before. It was Reeves’s second attempt at this feat, the first ending in abandonment after several knockdowns did significant damage to his 45-foot aluminum cutter, Moli.
Throughout the voyage, Reeves kept a blog that allowed readers a glimpse into life aboard Mo, as his boat is known to friends and followers. His storytelling is known for humility and self-effacing humor in the face of danger, difficulty and exhaustion. Some of his writing will be featured alongside breath-taking photos of his journey in his new coffee table book, The Figure 8 Voyage.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Mo has earned the Blue Water Medal. Former owner Anthony Gooch received it in 2003 for a single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation.
For more on Reeve’s voyage, click here for SAIL’s coverage and here for Reeves’s blog
