
Charlie Dalin Wins Vendée Globe and Sets New Record
When Charlie Dalin finished the Vendée Globe on Tuesday morning aboard his IMOCA 60 MACIF Santé Prévoyance, he shattered the prior record by almost 10 days! The race started on November 10, and just 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 49 seconds later, Dalin had sailed 24,000 miles to cross the finish line off Les Sables-d’Olonne. The prior record was set in 2017 by Armel Le Cléac’h, who finished the race in 74 days, 3 hours, 36 minutes and 46 seconds.

Dalin took the lead in the South Atlantic but relinquished it to Yoann Richomme after passing Cape Leeuwin, Australia. Dalin chased Richomme all the way across the Southern Ocean, rounding Cape Horn in second place just nine-and-a-half minutes behind him. He passed Richomme in the South Atlantic. Though Richomme remained close astern for most of the Atlantic, Dalin worked into a 100-plus-mile lead in the final stretch.

With light airs at the finish, those last 150 miles were slow for Yoann Richomme, as he crossed the line almost 24 hours later, early on Wednesday morning.
The race continues with 32 competitors still on the course. Sébastien Simon on Groupe Dubreuil is in a solid third place with just under 300 miles to go. He’ll also face light, upwind work to reach the finish. Most remaining competitors are making their way north in the Atlantic, and four are still sailing the Southern Ocean on their approach to Cape Horn.
The only American to ever complete the Vendée Globe was Bay Area sailor Bruce Schwab, who sailed his Tom Wylie-designed Open 60 OceanPlanet to ninth place in the 2004/05 edition.
Catch up with the rest of the fleet here.
Good Jibes #174: 30th Annual Baja Ha-Ha LIVE Aboard ‘Profligate’ in Turtle Bay
This week we sail to Mexico with the 30th Annual Baja Ha-Ha cruisers’ rally. Tune in as Good Jibes host Nicki Bennett chats with Ullman Sails’ Chuck Skewes and the crew of Profligate on their voyage south with the 2024 Baja Ha-Ha.
This episode includes livestreams from November 6–8, 2024.
Get an insider’s thoughts on what it’s like to do the Baja Ha-Ha, and hear about the legendary Turtle Bay Bazeball Game, the boat that wouldn’t stop drifting away, the record amount of fish caught, and the top reasons to do the Baja Ha-Ha.
Here’s a sample of what’s in this episode:
- What happens if someone can’t make it to the next leg?
- How does roll call work for such a large group?
- Fishing on the way to Cabo
- How the community helps one another throughout the Baja Ha-Ha
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots — follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!
*Note: We’ve included a transcript for those who would prefer to read the content. It is auto-generated and is not 100% accurate.
Modern Sailing Yacht Management Services
The Difference Between the Boston Marathon and Sailboat Racing
What’s the difference between the Boston Marathon and sailboat racing? The difference is that the Boston Marathon has more happy losers. As we were looking at all the sailing races in the new 2025 Northern California Sailing Calendar, we again wondered why many don’t attract more participants. What keeps more people from racing? One often-heard complaint is rating rules. The racing isn’t fair, so why race if you can’t win? We looked at the results of the Boston Marathon with its 30,000 participants and wondered why so many people ran without any hope of winning. On this page, we can see that John Duffy (not pictured below) finished in 25,408th place. Good for him!

This got us wondering why so many runners are happy to race and lose, and sailors only want to race if they can win. Is that even true? Runners run for the personal challenge, exercise, camaraderie with their fellow runners, and just to be outdoors. Isn’t that what sailing’s about too? What’s the secret behind big, successful events? Having more happy losers?
One thing the Boston Marathon and sailing have in common is that there is just one winner for every division. The other participants are just happy to be out there doing their best.

The upcoming Three Bridge Fiasco is the largest event in the Bay Area, with generally over 300 boats signed up. This year there are already 273 boats on the list for the January 25 event. Despite having only one winner, and more losers than any other race on the Bay, it remains uniquely successful. The event’s convoluted course, the wide variety of choices, and the single- and doublehanded divisions create one of the more puzzling challenges sailors can confront on the Bay. It’s a bit like playing miniature golf, or poker with many wild cards. Sometimes the cards fall your way; however, almost every year, it’s the Bay’s best sailors who rise to the top. Despite the event’s huge size there are still a colossal number of boats not racing.
What keeps you from going out?

Of course there are other factors such as the challenge of finding crew or the fact that on any given weekend there are up to a dozen sailing events to choose from. The racing rules for sailing are a bit more complicated than running. Plus, the Boston Marathon happens just once a year. Regardless, most of those runners go out knowing they won’t win and no rating rule will give them a shot at the top. Sure, winning always gives an extra boost to the day, but the only way to really lose is not to be out there at all. For perspective, the last-place boat in the Vendée Globe is 8,500 miles behind the winner. Good for him too!
If you want to find some “fair” racing, you can put on your sneakers and try running. The rules there are simple and fair, but it’s still very hard to come in first. We think the same attitude should carry over into sailing. We’ve enjoyed every Three Bridge Fiasco we’ve ever raced, despite modest results or not finishing at all. We look forward to being out there for this weekend’s Corinthian Midwinters, on January 25 for the 3BF, and for the summer beer can racing. We’ll pluck a few more events out of the schedule and see how it goes. There’s lots of racing near your boat too, and yacht clubs will welcome anyone to race.

Latitude 38 wants to thank all the businesses, clubs, classes and events that advertise, making it possible for us to print the annual calendar. Plus, we thank the yacht clubs, volunteer race committees, the YRA, the PHRF committee, and all the folks who do their best to make the racing fair and fun.
Despite all that, in the end, the fun is up to you. The calendar is available online and the printed copy is in many of the marine businesses and yacht clubs ringing the Bay. We encourage you to pick up a copy, choose some events, and have fun losing a few races. It’s character-building. If you have a boat on the Bay, racing is a great way to gain skills, discover new parts of the Bay, make friends, and create a reason to hoist your sails. We hope to see you out there.
The Resourceful Sailor — Behind the Curtain
Is your boat’s companionway a high-traffic area because you live aboard or have a family? Do you find removing and replacing drop boards tedious? Once removed, are those drop boards inconvenient to stow but still convenient to replace? (What?) Or do they slide around on slippery gelcoat or settees, marring themselves and the boat around them? Maybe you have condensation or fresh-air issues, or want privacy. Or do you want to keep a light rain or bright sun on the outside but still have quick access in and out? Those were driving forces behind The Resourceful Sailor’s making and installing a companionway curtain, not just on Sampaguita, a 1985 Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20, but also on his previous boat, a 1966 Columbia 26.
A quick, simple, inexpensive, and non-destructive solution was to cut a piece of marine fabric in the shape of the companionway, but oversized. I hemmed the edges and added a drawstring on the top like on a cinch sack or hoodie. I chain-spliced fast eye boat snaps on each end of the drawstring that I could loop around the cabin-top handrails and, voilà, I had a companionway curtain.

In my 14 years of living aboard, I have made three renditions. In my case, I used still-viable hand-me-down fabric from dockmates who had replaced the canvas on their bigger boats. I had access to a regular sewing machine (which handled the fabric fine) or hand-stitched the curtain. The black nylon three-strand drawstring and marine thrift snaps were reusable. I don’t know of an off-the-shelf solution, but I’m sure a canvas maker could make quick work of it.



I prefer the curtain to a drop-board hatch cover, sometimes seen on boats. While not beyond my DIY capabilities, I didn’t want to screw boat snaps into my cabin top or buy a boat-snap tool. I didn’t want to hear the “clicky and scratchy” sounds of loose snaps while down below and unable to fasten them easily and quickly. Plus, the designs I’ve seen were geared more toward aesthetics and varnish protection than an easy-access and functional curtain.

Security could be an issue, but it hasn’t been a big concern or problem for me, even when I lived in a Seattle marina. The drop boards can still be used, and the hatch locked if necessary or desired. From off the boat with the curtain down, you couldn’t tell if the owners were in or not. I’m under no illusion that if someone wants into a boat, they can get into most. If locked, through destructive means.
Within a few days of living on a boat, I knew I wanted easier access. I would put the drop boards in, be just about to step off, and, “Oh, crap,” I had forgotten something. Do that a few times, and tedium sets in. (Life is short.) If there’s a breeze or rain from astern, install the bottom board or two to keep the curtain bottom from blowing inside the companionway, but still have some air circulation. It is also incredibly easy to remove and stow if unwanted or unneeded.

Of course, each boat requires a thoughtful custom design. The Resourceful Sailor wouldn’t want to take all the fun out of “messing about in boats.” Remember, keep your solutions prudent and safe, and have a blast.
*We used a curtain in our companionway while living aboard in Maine. Even the one-piece drop board we had was a pain to insert and remove on a regular basis, but it was too cold to leave the companionway open. So we made a curtain and used Velcro to attach it. The Resourceful Sailor’s fastening sounds like a better idea. What have you used to secure or add convenience to your companionway access? – Ed.