23 Seconds

On Saturday I competed in the Stratford Shoals race, sailing double-handed with Todd on his J/92 Thin Man. It's a 45 mile race, with a long delivery at either end to get the boat to the starting area from City Island. I'd been feeling under the weather all week so I was definitely not at full strength when we met at the boat Saturday morning.

Fortunately the adrenaline kicked in, and we knew we had a great boat and all the tools to win the race. After a close study of current models and wind conditions, we made the choice to head to the Long Island side of the Sound. It looked like about 60% of the fleet agreed with us, and the rest headed for Connecticut. We ran down the Sound in 6 to 9 kts of breeze with the jumbo kite up, holding our ground well against the larger boats that started 5 minutes behind us. But as we converged on Stratford Shoals, the Connecticut guys had come out way ahead.

Once we rounded the mark, it was a rhumbline close-hauled/close-reach course to the finish. We kept the boat going as fast as we could, finishing after 10 pm and hoping for the best. Results were posted on Sunday, and we took 2nd place in the double-handed division, only 23 seconds behind an Olson 30! Great news, all things considered, but it's tough to lose by such a slim margin. Thanks to thinmansailing.net for the chartplotter screenshot - click the link for a Todd's race report.

I was back in Brooklyn by 0200 on Sunday, then off to Norwalk at 0830 for a Sabre showing, followed by a daysail with a client and his family on their Mason 44. What a weekend!

The Right People in the Right Boat

While we seem to be in the middle of monsoon season here, I was able to spend a very career-affirming and sunny day sailing with clients on Friday. I was up at 0530 to drive out to Long Island - in this case WAY out. The first stop was Orient Harbor on the North Fork, where my clients were just getting to know their brand-new Alerion Express 28. The goal was to go for a sail and make sure they're getting the most out of the boat, and also troubleshoot a few minor post-commissioning issues (a wayward lazyjack, among others).

It was calm and foggy when I arrived, but by the time we dropped the mooring we had sunny skies and a perfect 7-12 kt breeze. It was obvious that the boat has been a great addition to the family; everyone was smiling, and with 7 of us aboard - 3 adults and 4 kids - we never felt cramped. It was fantastic to know that I had put the right people in the right boat. After an hour or so of sailing around Orient Harbor (an ideal venue for the AE28) and going over the fine points of sail trim, we practiced picking up the mooring under sail and then headed in.

My next stop was Sag Harbor - two short ferry rides and a culture shift away. This time I was meeting a happy new J/105 owner and his 9 year old son. Again, after a month or so with the boat the client was SO enthusiastic about it. Clearly all his expectations were met and he was having a great time. The breeze was getting lighter but we worked our way upwind along the east side of North Haven. The one thing he hadn't done on the boat yet was fly the spinnaker, so we popped that up (with just the three of us!) and scooted back downwind in about 7 kts of breeze. After a near-perfect douse we went back to the mooring and I reluctantly drove back to Brooklyn.

It was a great day, and seeing how happy my clients were with their new boats was extremely satisfying. Sorry there are no pictures - I was having too much fun.

But I've Been Busy!

OK, so maybe it's no coincidence that my blogging came to a screeching halt at about the same time that my boat went in the water, but that doesn't mean there's been nothing to report. While some of my fellow bloggers are resorting to lists, I will provide a brief summary of events in my world.

Brokerage sales continue to be strong, with plenty of inventory but few motivated & realistic sellers. Boats that are priced right continue to sell though, and I'm happy to have some great values among my listings.

New boat sales are still extremely sluggish but we're anticipating one significant deal to close next week. As with other downturns, innovation will turn this around. For example:

• Hull #7 of the MJM 40z in now in production, proving there is a market for a fast, efficient 40 footer that can easily entertain 12+ on a single level pilothouse - and dock with a crew of one














• The J/95 is bringing J performance to thin-water sailors everywhere; hull #5 is available so call for a test sail today















• We have delivered 5 highly customized new Alerion Express this spring, and our dealer territory has just been expanded to include New Jersey to Maine
















• The IRC Owners Group here in Western Long Island Sound - an idea that originated at McMichael - is creating closer racing between more boats, and laying the foundation for new boats like the Summit 35

Most importantly, it's summer, the sun is out and the wind is blowing. I think I'll wrap this up and go sailing!

J/95 Update

Hull #1 of the new J/95 is now in Florida for demo sails, but the folks from SAIL magazine got in a quick test sail a few weeks ago while the boat was still in Rhode Island. Click on the link for some good video and a short review.

I'm looking forward to sailing hull #2 in Stonington with Rod J in a few weeks - I hope the boat will live up to all the great things I've been hearing!

Robin Knox-Johnston Day

April 20th marks the 40 year anniversary of Robin Knox-Johnston's victory in the first ever around-the-world singlehanded non-stop sailboat race. What we now call the Vendee Globe traces it roots to the Golden Globe - and that first race captures everything I love about sailing.

What is so interesting about the Golden Globe are the individual stories it holds. Robin Knox-Johnston won the race through quiet perseverence and attrition, and then came back almost 30 years later at the age of 68 to finish 4th in the Velux 5 Oceans race, in a boat that could not have been more radically different than his 32' teak Suhaili.

Chasing RKJ around the Capes was Bernard Moitessier, sailing a steel ketch with telephone poles for masts. Moitessier was ambivalent about the race to say the least, and after rounding Cape Horn and being in a position to easily pass RKJ on the home stretch, he decided to sail halfway around the globe again to Tahiti. Nevermind the prize money, wife or stepchildren that were waiting for him back in France.

And in the midst of all of this, Donald Crowhurst is sailing in circles off of South America, making false position reports and slowly going mad. His boat would eventually be found, including a logbook documenting his unraveling.

Read more about Robin Knox-Johnston at Adam's blog, Messing About in Sailboats - he'll give you the full story and lots of great links. And take it directly from the Horse's Mouth - Joe is a fellow Moitessier fan and offers up some primary source material.

I consider Moitessier's The Long Way, which chronicles his experience of the race, to be required reading. For an excellent narrative on the Golden Globe, see Peter Nichols' A Voyage for Madmen. Pick these up from Bluewater Books/Armchair Sailor and you'll be supporting a great business.

April is J105 Month

There has been a lot to blog about lately, but I'm in the middle of 5 deals right now - a welcome change of pace. All the buyers are getting great deals that wouldn't have happened a year ago, and all the sellers have been realistic in their asking price and negotiations. However, these aren't "fire sales" - values are off by less than 10% vs. last year.

What I find really interesting is that 4 of these 5 pending deals are on J/105's! I guess people still want a boat that is fun to sail, exciting to race and easy to own!