Category: Sailing

World Direct Shipping Adds Another Florida-Mexico Sailing

Ocean carrier World Direct Shipping (OCWDS) said it will now add a weekly sailing service between Manatee, Florida, and Mexico port in the new service that it has launched recently.


The newly introduced service will work between Port Manatee, which is located near the mouth of Tampa Bay, and the Tuxpan, which is in the Veracruz state north central part of Mexico. The existing service of World Direct operates between the Manatee port and Coatzacoalcos, in the southern Veracruz. From Tuxpan the first sailing is scheduled for 12th of Jan.

The director of Palmetto, Carlos Diaz, the, Florida-based World Shipping company said the location of Tuxpan near the Mexican paper processors will offer an opportunity for export of paper from Port Manatee including US imports of Mexican fruits, juices and vegetables.

World Shipping is planning to relocate its 672-TEU Queen B from the Coatzacoalcos service to the Tuxpan service and on the Coatzacoalcos route use the 440-TEU Pafilia. For Friday, the schedule calls departures from Tuxpan, and will reach at Port Manatee on Monday, whereas sailings from Coatzacoalcos will be continue on Saturdays, and will arrive at Port Manatee on Tuesday. Continue reading World Direct Shipping Adds Another Florida-Mexico Sailing

Lisa Blair Resumes Antarctic Circumnavigation

The 32-year-old sailor and adventurer Lisa Blair from Australia has recommenced her Antarctica circumnavigation journey.


She departed from the Royal Cape Yacht Club in Cape Town on 11th June 2017 last Sunday. She left at 11 am CAT.

Lisa is looking to create a new record of sorts by becoming the solo woman sailor to circumnavigate Antarctica all by herself. She is sailing without any crew or assistance. Lisa had to abandon her sail on 4 April 2017 when the port shroud of the Climate Action Now vessel broke. She was 895nm south of Cape Town and had issued a PAN then. She had to brave through winds up to the speed of 40 knots and 7m. It swelled her yacht.

Lisa was able to somehow safely bring her yacht to Cape Town to carry out the repairs. She got her boat fuelled on April 7 from the M.V. Eastern Mercury and safely moved on to Cape Town using a motor and jury rig. She reached Cape Town on April 12, 2017. Continue reading Lisa Blair Resumes Antarctic Circumnavigation

2017 Moth Worlds Entries

There is more focus now on the 2017 Moth Worlds regatta event that has six months remaining, more or less same as the America’s Cup event.


Indeed, summer months promise a lot of action for sailing fans and this year will be no different. A record fleet has registered for the Moth Worlds event which is all news now in the sailing world. The entrants are a record number for this year’s event. The entries for early bird category closed for this event on the last day of January. There were 190 competitors recorded who come from 25 countries. The event is scheduled to be held from July 21st to 30th at Lake Garda in Italy, a usual venue for the event. However the record lineup is what is interesting as top sailors would be part of the fleet.

Among the list of top sailors is Paul Goodison from GBR who has several world records to his name. He would also be facing other stalwarts of the racing world such as Tom Slingsby from Australia who would be paired up with Tom Burton. All such names have several accolades attached, some of Olympic and others from reputed international regatta events. Continue reading 2017 Moth Worlds Entries

De’Longhi Wins Race Two Of Australian Championship

The race 2 of the 18 Footers Australian Championship was a hard fought one and at the end, it was Niall Kinch, Simon Nearn and Grant Rollerson on De’Longhi who won the race held on Sunday.


The race started early as the fleet reached the lineup early and was eager to go. De’Longhi looked solid right from the start and at the end of the first of the three windward/leewards; the boat had a very good lead over its competitors.

De’Longhi did not give any space for the Yandoo (John Winning) and Smeg (Lee Knapton) to get beyond it. It ran a faultless race for the most part of the Day 2 of the Australian championship and had a solid lead over Yandoo and Smeg right for the word go/ The minor places saw a see-saw battle and there were four boats competing here. They were Triple M (James Ward), Coopers 62 Rag & Famish (Jack Macartney), Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Michael Coxon) and Compass Markets (Keagan York). They were mixing the positions at the front of the race. Continue reading De’Longhi Wins Race Two Of Australian Championship

Gulf Of Mexico Race

A native of Clark Lake was successful in clinching a deal in the sailing race that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico.


Being a native of Texas, he was successful in winning the contest that involved sailing about 150 miles by the Texas coast by the Gulf of Mexico. For John Barnett, who is 66 years of age, it was no small feat as he reached a pinnacle of his achievements. Having moved here about ten years back, he now regularly competes in different sailing contests. However, this was his first win in the Harvest Moon Regatta, which was a race that started from Galveston and ended at Port Aransas.

Barnett was excited about competing in a race that has people participating from different parts of the world. The race had a lot of excitement as people surfed all night and the waves had people screaming in their boats. The race has been on for 29 years. Continue reading Gulf Of Mexico Race

US Authorities Pen Letter To Non Winners

Not everyone is a winner at the Olympics, but there are many who spend months and years preparing for the same, qualifying for the different events. Indeed, there is much focus on the winners as those who lose their opportunities are left behind in the shadows.

For them, however, it is necessary to know and remember some aspects of participating in an epic event like Olympics. It is true that being at the venue you would be awed by the halo of the five rings that represent the Olympic circus and the winners who have walked on the podiums and claimed their position and fame.

Even though it might be tough to hang around such participants later and feel like a second class citizen, that is a feeling that is only for those specific days and hours. Once you have come back to your own world you will realize how far you have gone and the feats that you have achieved, pushing yourself to be part of the Olympics event, being there and putting in all your effort and concentration for a possible win. Such aspects make every participant unique and incredible and society will always honor what you have strived to achieve.

There would be many who would start preparing for the next Olympics again, 2020. Many will feel that they have unfinished business and they need to get down to training again, possibly with a break and a week where they can rent a yacht in Croatia after all the hard work and effort that has gone in the preparations and events in the past few months.

Many might want to put their focus to other things, deciding that the four years they had put in was too big a sacrifice and a path that is best travelled once. No matter what you decide, being part of the Olympics is an achievement by oneself and one should bask in the glory.

The Story Of SailAhead

Sailing is not always about racing but it can be a sport with a healing touch. This is the offered as the perfect example by SailAhead. This is founded by Sean and Kilian Duclay from Huntington Station, New York who offer sailing as a therapy for US armed forces veterans in order to help them heal the scars of war experiences.

The brothers talk about their background and how their parents have helped them develop a passion for sailing. Sean, who is only seventeen years of age, talks about how their parents always owned a boat and their current possession is a Beneteau 411. The parents also sailed with a Hobie Cats model for a long time and the brothers sailed the boat with their parents till 2012. Continue reading The Story Of SailAhead

Horowitz wins Sarasota Viper Winter Series

The Sarasota Viper Winter Series 2015-16 started on 12th December with twenty-three teams contending in the 8-race event, the 1st of 3 that would take place in Sarasota, FL. The first day of the Winter Series began with sunny skies, 80-degree weather as well as 8-10 knots of breeze from the east, with a lot of shifts to see squads go from zero to hero and the return again.

After one desolated start, Danny Pletsch and his crew took the 1st bullet in a race which saw participants able to work both parts of the course as the breeze sank in.

The remaining races of the day experienced a peak in the breeze in the low teens with a few full hiking moments, as well as a few rides downhill. Zeke Horowitz won the 2nd add the 3rd race, Danny Pletsch took the final race to end the day in the lead with 7 points, with Zeke having 9 points and Peter Beardsley with 10 points. The fleet’s balance had some great racing with a lot of benefits and losses in the up and down breeze.

The second day started with a 10 am start sequence along with a breeze in 10-12 knot range from north-east. Danny Pletsch emerged of the blocks quick again and took race one. By the 2nd race, the air was on and the crews checked on rig tautness as the conditions took its “max fun” mode. Zeke and crew had a day adding only 7 points to their score.