Leg 3 of the McIntyre Mini Globe Challenge Is Underway
On July 26, 12 of the original 15 starters in the McIntyre Mini Globe Race started the 10,000-mile third leg from Vuda Marina in Fiji to South Africa. It is the longest leg of the race for the 19-ft home-built, one-design, singlehanded ocean racers that will take them north of Australia to cross the Indian Ocean bound for Cape Town.
After crossing the Pacific the fleet settled into a five-week stopover in Fiji to rest up, repair, and prepare for the 10,000-mile leg ahead. The fleet is now sailing in close quarters south of the Solomon Islands and bound for Thursday Island before heading into the Timor Sea to pass Darwin ahead of the long Indian Ocean crossing.
After passing between Thursday Island and Papua New Guinea they will head toward Cocos Keeling, Rodrigues Island and Mauritius before making for Durban, South Africa. The sailors will then be battling the Southern Ocean and the Agulhas current, hoping to make it to Cape Town in time for Christmas.
Pacific Northwest sailor Josh Kali is making steady progress in the middle of the fleet, and his well-crafted Skookum continues to be a reliable vessel for this 24,000-mile, 13-month race around the world. Below is a 40-minute video tour with Josh about the building of his Mini Globe racer, Skookum.
You can follow the fleet across the Indian Ocean here.
Caption Contest(!)
We’re sure there’s a good story behind this photo; we just don’t know right now what it is. Thanks to Richmond Yacht Club historian John Dukat for sending this photo our way.
See July’s Caption Contest(!) winners in the August issue.
Steering the Dream With Hydrovane
Hydrovane is your best crew member: an independent self-steering windvane and emergency rudder/steering system … ready to go!
Join Captain Marie Rogers at the Women’s Sailing Seminar
Island Yacht Club’s annual Women’s Sailing Seminar is on next month, September 26–28. Now in its 33rd year, this three-day community sailing event is completely run by volunteers: Taught by Women, for Women™. How did this organization come about?
Women’s Sailing Seminar (WSS) was founded in 1992 by women who identified a need for a seminar where women could learn about sailing from other women. Their mission is to welcome women of all backgrounds into the sailing community by creating a fun, safe, and supportive learning environment. The seminar instructors have years of experience cruising, racing, crossing oceans, and sailing the Bay. This year, the group has announced that the event’s keynote speaker is Captain Marie Rogers. We’ve hosted Marie on our Good Jibes podcast, and she is truly an inspirational sailor.
Marie Rogers is a US Sailing board member, former staff commodore of the Los Angeles Yacht Club (LAYC), is currently on the board of the Southern California Yachting Association (SCYA) and the National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA), and is the founder of her nonprofit, Offshore Racing Outreach (ORO). Did we mention Marie is an avid racer, sailing instructor, marathon runner and coach? But wait, there’s more ….
Marie holds her USCG 50-Ton Master Captain’s License, and was the second woman in 118 years to be the commodore of LAYC. While there, she established a sailing school and LAYC Community Sailing. In 2019, she participated in the 50th Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. As she didn’t see the diversity she was hoping for, she recruited a diverse offshore team for future races. That effort evolved into her nonprofit, Offshore Racing Outreach, through which Marie organized a team of people of color, five of whom were women, to compete in the 2023 Transpac under the name Good Trouble aboard the Andrews 56. They finished fifth in their class.
Closer to home, Marie races her J/29 Rush Street, and does coastal racing aboard Marie, a Nelson Marek 55 that she shares with her husband Bill. Marie loves doing yacht deliveries, cruising, and teaching sailing. She is very active in the sailing community both at home and on the national level. She was the 2021 BoatUS/National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award recipient and the Southern California Yacht Association (SCYA) Peggy Slater honoree who “best demonstrates outstanding contributions to the enhancement of women’s participation in the sport of sailing.”
“Women’s Sailing Seminar is open to all women and non-binary persons who wish to learn how to sail and we strive to be inclusive of those who are underrepresented in the sailing community.”
This year’s classes are: Intro to Sailing – Welcome Aboard!; Competent Crew; Intro to Cruising; Intro to Racing; Taking the Helm – Safe Skippering. All classes are held at the Alameda Marina.
“Year after year, we empower women to feel more confident, and become more accomplished in their sailing abilities on and off the water!”
Whether you’re new to sailing or looking to advance on your journey, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from Marie and many amazing instructors with years and years of experience sailing all over the world!
Learn more and sign up for the 33rd WSS here.
Read more about Offshore Racing Outreach and Good Trouble’s Transpac race here.
Whatever Happened to Express 37 Hull #63?
Somewhere in a forgotten barn in Washington, a sailing legend waited, wrapped in dust and silence. My heart pounded as we drove east along the Columbia River Gorge to rescue the last Express 37 ever built and whose ultimate fate was to be the landfill. Whichever the case, the Discovery-Recovery and Delivery is an anomaly, as I came across this “yet-to-be-assembled” hull #63 in Stevenson, Washington, thanks to Andy Schwenk. I’m not sure if I should thank him or curse him for the information he passed on about this “free mystery boat somewhere in Oregon or Washington.”
I purchased Express 37 hull #39 Main Squeeze (currently in Santa Cruz) last year from Joe Thomas Booker, a longtime Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Joe had owned her since 1986; it was time to let go. My infatuation with the Alsberg Brothers Boatworks Express boats started during the heyday of Santa Cruz boatbuilding. At the time (1980s), I was sailing a brand-new Don Trask J/24, bright red no less, and my
partner Phil Myers (RIP) and I called the boat Salsa. We were not exactly welcome as we were smack in the middle of Olson 30s, Moore 24s, Santa Cruz 27s, and the Wilderness boat explosion. I recall being in Moss Landing at the end of a race and Tom Connerly and Howard Ruderman, longtime Moore 24 owners, walked by and I overheard “So that’s what a J/24 looks like.” I’m not sure they approved. Tom and I have spent many offshore miles together — Mexico, Hawaii — since those days.
The first time I saw an Express 27 was coming into the harbor after the Wednesday night races. There she was with Terry Alsberg, Junior Morgan and several others. Sleek with its contoured bow, exposed wooden stern and fractional rig, it was a departure from other boats built around that time, although similar, in that the bow and rigging mirrored the successful Moore 24 to a great degree. This was the early ’80s, after Terry Alsberg left Ron Moore’s shop and got together with Carl Schumacher and came up with the design. Needless to say, it was a big deal, and the Express line (27-, 34- and 37-ft) was
launched. Over the span of around six years, they produced 117 27-ft hulls, 28 34-footers, and 63 37s. Sixty-two 37s were floated. #63 has never hit the water; not even the keel was attached. The elliptical keel still sits on a dilapidated pallet where it was left 30+ years ago in Santa Cruz.
Your Local Sail Experts Marchal Sailmakers Are Back
