Bay Area Sailor Heather Richard Awarded OCC Qualifier’s Mug
Bay Area sailor Heather Richard has been awarded the Ocean Cruising Club 2025 Qualifier’s Mug. The award, created in 1993, recognizes the most ambitious or arduous qualifying voyage published by a member in print or online, or submitted to the OCC for future publication. Heather qualified for the award when she doublehanded the Pacific Cup Race from San Francisco to Hawaii with her son Julius in 2024. They completed the race aboard the boat on which she raised him. Heather is a USCG 100-Ton captain, sailing instructor, racer, cruiser, and charter owner who raised her three kids on her 43-ft aluminum sloop Carodon.
The OCC says this about Heather and her qualifying voyage:
“This qualifying voyage was unique and challenging in many ways, not so much that it was an unusual route or particularly difficult passage but that the personal challenges to make it happen were perhaps significant and noteworthy. There are not many female sailors raising their kids aboard as a single parent.
“That was perhaps the first challenge that Heather faced in preparation for the voyage, starting many years ago when son/crew Julius was not even walking. Not only did she raise her kids aboard as a single parent and take them cruising as often as she could, teaching them all to become competent sailors, she also became one of the few female captains on San Francisco Bay and one of only three female captains in the Pacific Cup Race in 2024.
“The fact that they as a mother-son team prepared the boat and finished the race in what was arguably one of the heaviest-wind years on record, doublehanded and without using autopilot took grit and determination beyond what other racers and certainly other cruisers often face on a similar passage. Their boat was 50 years old, not competitive with the others in the race, yet they managed to make the crossing within the time limit and without significant damages, unlike many in the fleet. Heather hopes her story will inspire other women to follow their dreams and break gender stereotypes.”
We hosted Heather on our Good Jibes podcast in September 2025. There she shared some of the challenges and stories of her voyage with Julius, along with stories of raising her children aboard Carodon and together cruising some 5,000 miles. In receiving the OCC award, Heather joins fellow Qualifier’s Mug recipient and Good Jibes guest James Frederick. James received the OCC award in 2021 for his first solo ocean crossing, which was also his qualifying passage to become a member of the OCC. He finally reached port after 32 days and 2300 miles at sea, 1000 of which were steered by drogue after rudder failure.
Listen to our podcast with Heather Richard here: Episode #209: Heather Richard on Sailing the World With Your Kids
Tune in to our podcast with James Frederick here: Episode #95: James Frederick on Finding Peace at Sea
You can read more about the Ocean Cruising Cub here: Oceancruisingclub.org