Letters to Yachting World may be edited yachtingworld@futurenet.com
Go for it
In the December 2022 issue we asked: ‘can you prepare for an Atlantic crossing in a year?’ I wholeheartedly endorse the idea that when the timing works (for an ARC and a year away), then go for it. The right combination of employment (or not), children’s ages and grandparents’ health, not to mention the wherewithal, will occur only briefly and probably only once.
You don’t need a year, still less two, to prepare. Granted we could afford a bluewater-ready boat and two of the three adults on board had several Biscays under our belts. But we bought the boat in the UK in July, had the summer there, had time in Portugal and Morocco on the way down, and were on the start line in last Palmas in November.
Generation gap
Stan and Sally Honey: amazing sailors and people (see our profile in the October 2022 issue and online). They both also
give back to the sport, serving at the US Sailing level and the
World Sailing level as volunteer leaders. Their thoughts on the future of the sport are very useful as we lead things forward. I’m honoured to know them.
I’ll mention that Stan’s point, early in the article, is that intergenerational sailing is a key to building youth sailors into lifelong sailors. Let’s get youth sailing with adults on adult boats. Our sport will grow as a result.
Work of art
How wonderful to see the picture of Van Ki Pas in the November edition of Yachting World. I recognised immediately the work of Victor Carpenter: the use of ebony laminated with mahogany to make the steering wheel, the inlaid transom and the stainless steel turning blocks. Not only were his boats beautiful but unusually innovative as well. He was truly an artist in materials.
I first met Victor over 50 years ago when he was working in a small boatyard near Toronto. A friend of mine had left his 37ft sloop there to have the bow extended by enough to qualify for the Newport-Bermuda race. Victor did the work so well that you couldn’t tell of the change and we entered the race.
How much freedom?
As a subscriber to Yachting World for many years, an experience we had very recently prompts an interesting question, espe
