The 2020 Awards

For the second year running, COVID-19 prevented our Club from holding an Annual Dinner at which to present the annual Awards. However, three – the OCC Seamanship Award, the OCC Award (members) and the OCC Barton Cup – were presented ‘virtually’ following the AGM. At the time of writing it is hoped that the 2022 AGM and Annual Dinner will take place in Annapolis on Saturday 2nd April, and if all the winners from 2019 and 2020 attend, in addition to those for 2021, we can anticipate quite a party! Note that the OCC Award (open), the Events and Rallies Award and the Australian Trophy were not awarded this year. Thanks are due to Eoin Robson, Chair of the Awards Sub-committee, for receiving the award nominations and overseeing the judging panel, the third year he has handled this sometimes challenging task. Further details of the The Club Silverware history and criteria for all the awards, together with information about how to submit a nomination online, can be found at https://oceancruisingclub.org/Awards.

THE DAVID WALLIS TROPHY

Presented by the family of David Wallis, Founding Editor of Flying Fish, and first awarded in 1991, this silver salver recognises the ‘most outstanding, valuable or enjoyable contribution’ to the year’s issues. The winner is decided by vote among the Flying Fish Editorial Sub-committee.

There were several very worthy contenders for the 2020 David Wallis Trophy, with Dag and Ma Theresa Hoiland finally emerging as winners for their article Voyaging with Vetle which appeared in Flying Fish 2020/2.

In October 2018, during their son Vetle’s fourth birthday party in Stavanger, Norway, Dag and Ma Theresa announced to family and friends that they were planning an extended cruise aboard their Beneteau First 47.7 Escape, which they’d already sailed many thousands of miles. Their mantra is ‘Explore – Learn – Share’, a philosophy they are working hard to pass on to their son.

The first part of their article covers preparations, and members of the Editorial Sub-committee were particularly impressed by how carefully Dag and Ma Theresa considered every aspect of ocean cruising with a young child, with particular focus on what he would most enjoy and benefit from as well as the more obvious safety aspects. Vetle had been sailing since before he could walk and had already made passages to the Faroes, Shetlands and Orkneys as well as to northern Norway, but an ocean passage is a very different thing.

Departing in July 2019, their route took them south as far as the Cape Verde islands before heading west for Barbados at the end of December. Readers get an insight into shipboard routine including Dag, Ma Theresa and Vetle Hoiland ‘inspection’ and ‘school’, during which the multilingual family practised words in Tagalog – Ma Theresa comes from Pangasinan in the northern Philippines – and English as well as Dag’s native Norwegian. (The Editorial Sub-committee was impressed by Dag and Ma Theresa’s excellent written English, despite it not being the first language of either.)

Following their Atlantic passage, the Hoiland family cruised north through the Caribbean islands as far as St Martin before heading south to Curaçao in mid-March as COVID-19 took hold – see the September 2020 Newsletter – where Escape was laid up. They hope to return to her in July this year and, COVID permitting, spend time in the ABC islands, followed by Colombia and the San Blas islands, before reaching Panama and transiting the Canal in December. Their plans for the Pacific are flexible, but may include Easter Island and Pitcairn before heading for French Polynesia.

Flying Fish will be encouraging them to submit further instalments but, in the meantime, Voyaging with Vetle can be found on the OCC website at https:// oceancruisingclub.org/Flying-Fish-Archive.

THE QUALIFIER’S MUG

Presented by Admiral (then Commodore) Mary Barton and first awarded in 1993, the Qualifier’s Mug recognises the most ambitious or arduous qualifying voyage published by a member in print or online, or submitted to the OCC for future publication.

Saša Fegić and his big, red (model) boat

The Qualifier’s Mug has been presented for many remarkable voyages in its 27 year history, but never for a circumnavigation, let alone one via the Three Great Capes, visiting 15 countries, taking 28 months and covering 39,000 miles – the achievement of Croatian sailor Saša Fegić. The full story of his eastabout voyage aboard the 34ft HIR 3, a survivor of the Croatian war of independence in the early 1990s, can be read starting on page 179 of this issue, and their route followed on the plan on page 22.

A sailor through and through, Saša was born and raised in Zagreb but caught the sea bug early and has been sailing since the age of 12. He took his first formal sailing lessons in 1992 aboard this same boat, HIR 3, already famous for completing a circumnavigation via Cape Horn in the late 1980s. For the past 20 years his life has revolved around boats and sailing, working as a professional skipper, charter manager and sailing entrepreneur.

A circumnavigation was an obvious ambition, and Saša claims to have chosen the toughest route ‘because it was supposed to be the fastest and the cheapest way to get around the globe, and it took us by the southernmost bar at Yacht Club Micalvi in Puerto Williams, the coolest place in the world to take a beer’.

Back in Croatia, Saša is offering the chance to sail aboard HIR 3 to as many of his fellow countrymen and women – and others around the globe – as possible. Visit his website at http://sailing-tribe.com.

THE WATER MUSIC TROPHY

Presented by Past Commodore John Foot and named after his succession of yachts all called Water Music, this set of meteorological instruments set into a wooden cube was first awarded in 1986. It recognises a significant contribution to the Club in terms of providing cruising, navigation or pilotage information, and is open to members only.

The Qualifier’s Mug and the Water Music Trophy

The 2020 Water Music Trophy went to Canadian yachtsman Kirk R Patterson for his ongoing efforts to popularise Japan as a cruising destination. He arrived there aboard his 40ft steel cutter Silk Purse in 2013, having previously worked in Tokyo, and has cruised Japanese waters extensively in the years since. His wife is Japanese and together they have adopted a young daughter. Kirk’s love for his new country shines through his two-part article Japan, The Next Cruising Frontier which appeared in Flying Fish 2020/1 and 2020/2. This chronicles his threeyear circumnavigation of his adopted homeland and paints an enticing picture of both the land and its people. He has been our Port Officer for Japan since 2018 and is in the process of writing a cruising guide to the country – believed to be the first in any language. He is the founder of Konpira Consulting [ www.konpiraconsulting.com], set up to support foreign cruisers visiting Japan as well as to organise yacht charters and kayak

Kirk R Patterson, with Silk Purse behind tours. He is particularly keen to give visitors ‘opportunities to meet local people, to experience the culture first-hand, and to foster cultural understanding and intercultural communication’.

Kirk was an early contributor to the series of OCC Webinars, still available at https:// oceancruisingclub.org/Webinars, while those who missed his articles will find them at https://oceancruisingclub.org/Flying-Fish-Archive.

Introduced at the suggestion of then Rear Commodore Mark Holbrook and first presented in 2008, this award is made to one or more OCC Port Officers or Port Officer Representatives who have provided outstanding service to both local and visiting members, as well as to the wider sailing community.

Two awards were made for 2020, both related to the COVID-19 crisis which affected so many yachts around the globe. These went to Honorary Member José Azevedo and his team at Peter Café Sport in Horta, Azores, where José is POR, and to Victor Langerwerf, POR for Curaçao in the southern Caribbean.

The nomination for Peter Café Sport described how, during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in the Azores, owner José and his team, which included his sons and his nephew Duarte, went out of their way to give advice, guidance and support to the many crews who called in there on their way back to Europe from the Caribbean, the Eastern Seaboard of North America, Brazil and the South Atlantic. Many, but by no means all of these crews, were OCC members.

With lockdown in place, José and his team provided meals from the Café Sport kitchen, took shopping lists to the local supermarket and returned with stores, transported pets to vets and people to doctors, and undertook a variety of other tasks with cheerfulness and great good humour. They offered practical support and light relief to yachties who could see and smell the land but were unable to set foot ashore.

José Azevedo (centre) with (left) RIB skipper Filipe Goulart and (right) his nephew Duarte Pinto

José also liaised with local officials in an effort to get the rules relaxed for those who had already been at sea for many weeks.

See Retreat From Paradise by Vice Commodore Daria Blackwell in Flying Fish 2020/2, available on the OCC website at https://oceancruisingclub.org/Flying-FishArchive, to learn more.

Victor Langerwerf’s nomination for the Port Officer Service Award was made by one of the many yachtsmen he assisted. When the Hoiland family reached Curaçao in the Dutch Lesser Antilles aboard their Beneteau First 47.7 Escape in late March 2020 they were refused entry – the island’s waters had been closed while they were on passage. They were trying to contact the authorities by radio when Victor arrived on a paddleboard offering help – and, to quote Dag Hoiland, ‘help he did, together with his wife Marjolein Elgersma’.

With yachts arriving all the time, Victor had already started to lobby the authorities and local media to find a solution, as well as alerting his numerous friends to the situation. Within three days Escape, with five-year-old Vetle aboard, was granted a 48-hour permit, extended next day to the full 14-day quarantine period. While in quarantine Escape was frequently visited by the coastguard as well as by Victor’s friends, including one man accompanied by his son bringing a bag of books and puzzles for Vetle. The same assistance and friendship was extended to the eight other yachts which had also been denied entry.

When nominating Victor, Dag wrote: Victor Langerwerf ‘This assistance continued until we flew out of Curaçao two months later leaving Escape on the hard. He even drove us to the airport. As new OCC members, this was our first meeting with the OCC as an organisation. We quickly realised it is a family more than an organisation. Victor helped many yachts and sailors, and engaged in discussions with the Curaçao authorities to find a workable solution allowing other yachts to seek safe haven for the 2020 hurricane season in the Caribbean. Victor is an excellent ambassador for what we now understand is the core of the OCC.’

Last summer Victor received an OCC Special Award for his actions – see the June 2020 Newsletter, with a fuller account from Dag Hoiland in the September 2020 Newsletter. Both are available on the OCC website at https://members. oceancruisingclub.org/members/Newsletters.

The Vertue Award is presented to a member in North America for an outstanding voyage or for service to the Club. Named after Vertue XXXV, in which OCC Founder Humphrey Barton crossed the North Atlantic in 1950, it was created in 2014 to commemorate the Club’s 60th anniversary. Awardees are selected by North American Regional Rear Commodores.

Announcing Bill and Lydia Strickland as winners of the 2020 Vertue Award may create feelings of déjà vu in members who attended last year’s virtual AGM, during which the presentation was made.

Bill and Lydia have been members since 1996 and 2014 respectively, Lydia as an Associate before becoming a full member in 2015. They became Regional Rear Commodores for South East USA in 2016, and since then have promoted the Club tirelessly, contacting new members, offering hospitality to those passing through and organising social events. Each year they organise the Annapolis Fall Dinner, which normally attracts well over 100 attendees, handling much of the catering themselves to keep costs as low as possible. They also provide support to those running other OCC events around the Chesapeake, notably the Chesapeake and Southern Chesapeake Cruises.

In 2019 Lydia and Bill accepted the challenge of organising the OCC’s planned 2020 AGM and Annual Dinner in Annapolis, the club’s first-ever AGM weekend outside the UK. They toured hotels and venues in both Washington DC and Annapolis before suggesting the Hotel Annapolis and Annapolis YC to the General Committee. They made all the arrangements for the morning talks, AGM and Annual Dinner, as well as for a tour of the US Naval Academy, and enlisted other local members to provide additional sight-seeing opportunities on the following days. None were more disappointed than Bill and Lydia when the event had to be cancelled but, gluttons for punishment, they immediately offered to repeat the entire process for April 2022, COVID-19 permitting. Our Club is incredibly fortunate to have such efficient and dedicated US Regional Rear Commodores.

Bill and Lydia with their Vertue Award ‘keeper’ plaque. Photo Rick and Julie Palm

Donated by past Commodore Tony Vasey and his wife Jill, and first awarded in 1997, this handsome trophy recognises an unusual or exploratory voyage made by an OCC member or members.

The Vasey Vase for 2020 was awarded to Graham and Avril Johnson for their low-key circumnavigation aboard their 44ft cutter Dream Away. In an age of speedy world circuits, often in the higher latitudes and frequently in pursuit of a place in the record books, an 18-year voyage is undoubtedly ‘unusual’. Even more so is the extent to which OCC members have been able to share in it, with 20 Flying Fish articles over the years culminating in Full Circle, starting on page 62 of this issue. The entire portfolio is listed on page 65 and is available on the OCC website at https://oceancruisingclub.org/Flying-Fish-Archive.

On learning of their award, Graham and Avril wrote: ‘We were amazed and delighted to receive the wholly unexpected notification of our award of the Vasey Vase. To have our exploits recognised in such a way is indeed a great honour, particularly so from the OCC, one of the world’s most successful international sailing clubs. The award is particularly precious to us as we know Tony Vasey well, having had the pleasure of supporting him in

Avril and Graham celebrating Christmas at Pangkor, Malaysia in 2017

our role as Membership Secretaries during his four years as Commodore in the 1990s. It is the second Vasey Vase we’ve been awarded – the first being that for 2007 following our passage from Cape Horn north to Puerto Montt through the Chilean channels.

Wherever we have been our philosophy has been to engage with local people, to experience alternative cultures and offer whatever help or friendship is appropriate, and we have attempted to share this through the pages of Flying Fish. The voyage was immeasurably fun and enjoyable, which is as it should be. We have returned with the same people aboard as when we left and no one ever fell overboard, which is as good a measure of success as any. Sailing across the vastness of fathomless oceans under the eternal heavens is in itself humbling, and we confess to a similar feeling in response to the generous recognition of our exploits by our treasured fellow OCC members. We thank you all.’

THE OCC JESTER AWARD

Donated by the Jester Trust as a way to perpetuate the spirit and ideals epitomised by Blondie Hasler and Mike Richey aboard the junk-rigged Folkboat Jester, this award recognises a noteworthy singlehanded voyage or series of voyages made in a vessel of 30ft or less overall, or a contribution to the art of singlehanded ocean sailing. It was first presented in 2006 and is open to both members and non-members.

It’s surprising that Jack van Ommen has waited so long to receive the Jester Award. As readers of Flying Fish 2020/2 will be aware, Jack has made a series of notable voyages – including a circumnavigation – in his two Fleetwoods, both 30ft Naja plywood kit-boats. He left his home port of Gig Harbor, Washington State, in 2005 and returned 12 years later at the age of 80, having visited 60 countries and sailed some 54,325 miles. Now 83, he continues long-distance sailing and is convinced that There’s No Mandatory Age Limit for Ocean Sailing – the title of his article in Flying Fish 2020/2. Jack has overcome setbacks which would have made lesser men give up – not least the loss of his first

The second Fleetwood sailing at Gig Harbor, Washington in September 2014

Jack with his first OCC burgee, at the Beaulieu Rally in May 2016

Fleetwood in 2013 in the Balearic islands. After initially thinking ‘that God had a new plan for me and my sailing days were over’, he changed his mind and bought another 30ft Naja – which he also called Fleetwood – and restarted his circumnavigation.

Following the shipwreck he wrote a book called SoloMan,* subtitled Alone at Sea with God and Social Security – or Alleen op Zee met God en AOW in its Dutch version. (Although born in the Netherlands, Jack emigrated to California at the age of 19 and writes in both languages.) As he puts it, ‘I rediscovered that the best experiences are God’s free gifts, like friendships, family, sunsets, starlit skies, the breathing of a dolphin alongside in the night while I am half-awake in my berth ... I am convinced that peace and happiness also add to my physical condition – no home, no car, no bills, no worries.’

On learning of the Award, Jack responded, ‘I am delighted and honoured. I am also very grateful for the opportunity to brag about my blessings and inspire others to follow in Fleetwood’s wake.’

* Reviewed in Flying Fish 2016/2.

THE OCC LIFETIME CRUISING AWARD

First presented in 2018 and open to both members and non-members, the OCC Lifetime Cruising Award recognises a lifetime of noteworthy ocean voyaging.

Nick Skeates, winner of the 2020 OCC Lifetime Cruising Award, is a true cruiser’s cruiser, a ‘fantastic character full of soul, wisdom and experience’. He has been an almost permanent liveaboard since leaving the UK in 1975 aboard his first Wylo, a Morgan Giles-designed 28 footer, at the age of 28. Two years later, having sailed to New Zealand and back into the Pacific, he lost her on a reef near Fiji in poor visibility. Back in NZ with almost no money he decided to design and build his next boat, Wylo II, a 32ft gaff cutter with steel hull and wooden deck, which he launched in November 1980 having spent around NZ$2000 in the process. He did nearly all the work himself, including making her sails.

Nick Skeates aboard Wylo II. Photo Lizzie Bowen

Wylo II is very simple but extremely strong – at least one sistership has sailed around Cape Horn – with an interior built mainly from recycled timber and with a couple of primus stoves in the galley. More than 160 sets of plans – some of a slightly extended 35ft version – have been sold, with some 50 boats built.

Since launching Wylo II in 1980 Nick has completed four circumnavigations, covering more than a quarter of a million miles, and has crossed the Atlantic more Wylo II times than he can count. He still prefers to navigate by sextant, though he admits to carrying a GPS in reserve. In these days of ever-larger cruising yachts with all the bells and whistles, Nick remains true to the philosophy which has served him well for nearly 50 years. He remains a fount of knowledge both for those who have purchased plans and those who simply drop by Wylo II at anchor (he shuns marinas) wherever they may see her.

THE OCC SEAMANSHIP AWARD

Donated by Past Commodore John Franklin and first presented in 2013, this award recognises feats of exceptional seamanship and/or bravery at sea. It is open to both members and non-members.

Garry Crothers with the day’s catch!

When COVID-19 struck in spring 2020 many countries went into lockdown and most transatlantic flights were cancelled. Among these were the ones due to bring crew out to Sint Maarten to assist owner Garry Crothers sail his Ovni 435 Kind of Blue home to Northern Ireland. Neither was Garry able to lay his boat up and get a flight back to Derry, where his daughter was due to get married a few months later.

After careful thought he decided to sail home singlehanded – and Garry is truly singlehanded, having lost his left arm in 2009 following a motorbike accident. As a young man he had travelled the world as a Merchant Navy radio officer, so had no illusions about the conditions he might face. He joined the OCC Atlantic Crossing Group, which benefited from the tracking service offered by PredictWind (see Flying Fish 2020/2, page 30), and departed Sint Maarten on 29th May. While many crews stopped in the Azores (see page 8 of this issue), Garry decided to head direct for Northern Ireland to save time and avoid unnecessary manoeuvring. He sailed conservatively, pushing hard at times to avoid weather systems but reducing sail at night and resting as necessary, and doing everything that good seamanship dictated. As he approached Northern Ireland a rapidly developing gale threatened to overtake Kind of Blue, but he made it into the River Foyle on 4th July before the storm broke, 37 days after leaving Sint Maarten – a passage wholly deserving of the OCC Seamanship Award. Since returning home Garry has been elected Chairman of Foyle Sailability, which was instrumental in his path to recovery and return to sailing. He

has become a role model for sailors with disabilities, proving that almost anything is possible with the right attitude and a healthy dose of seamanship. He is a true role model and inspiration.

Garry has contributed a memorable addition to the series of OCC Webinars, available at https://oceancruisingclub.org/Webinars, and it is hoped that Flying Fish 2021/2 will carry a full account of his transatlantic passage.

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THE OCC AWARD

The Club’s oldest award, dating back to 1960, the OCC Award recognises valuable service to the OCC or to the ocean cruising community as a whole.

The outcome of judging the OCC Award for 2020 was hardly in doubt following the outstanding COVID-19 pandemic response effort co-ordinated by Vice Commodore Daria Blackwell with support from Rear Commodore Fiona Jones, Regional Rear Commodore Ireland Alex Blackwell, Roving Rear Commodore Guy Chester, and members Moira Bentzel and Tim Goodyear. Their achievement was also recognised outside the OCC with the Royal Cruising Club’s Medal for Services to Cruising.

Flying Fish 2020/2 carried Daria’s day-to-day account of how her team reacted to the developing pandemic, opening the OCC Facebook Group’s Atlantic Crossing, Pacific Crossing and Caribbean Net+ to non-members as well as pooling resources with Noonsite, the Seven Seas Cruising Association, the Salty Dawg Sailing Association, the Cruising Association and BoatWatch among others. The greatest problem for many cruisers was the speed with which national borders were closing, often with little notice and when yachts were already on passage. As OCC PR Officer, Daria knew that the only way to get the attention of world leaders was to highlight the plight of cruisers in

Daria at the wheel of Aleria

Daria’s OCC Award plaque – all the Award winners received similar tokens

the general media, not just the yachting press, and gave many interviews and used her media contacts in pursuit of this.

The situation throughout the Pacific was particularly difficult, with the governments of many small island nations so desperate to keep COVID-19 away from their shores that they refused entry to all yachts, including those which had been at sea far longer than the standard two-week quarantine

Fiona Jones in Thailand. The orchid is reported to have thrived during its three years at sea!

Guy Chester in his companionway

period. Fiona Jones and Australian member Guy Chester, both circumnavigators, worked tirelessly to encourage them to reconsider, Guy drawing on his extensive diplomatic experience. They also kept nearly 200 yachts in various parts of the Pacific abreast of changes. Among their successes was persuading Fiji to set up ‘Blue Lanes’, which yachts could enter under quarantine, but their attempts to convince the governments of Australia and New Zealand that yachts needed to move south ahead of the approaching cyclone season largely met with refusal.

Moira Bentzel, happy at the helm of Equinox

it three times. Fiona and her husband Chris made a ten-year, 60,000-mile circumnavigation aboard their Gitana 43 Three Ships between 2005 and 2015 and now sail from Caernarvon in North Wales. Moira, until recently our Regional Rear Commodore for North East USA, has sailed some 25,000 miles including two Atlantic passages with husband Dick aboard Equinox, a 36ft Westerly Corsair. Guy has sailed all his life, including more than 30 years’ cruising in Pacific and Indonesian waters, and between 2013 and 2020 circumnavigated in his 52ft catamaran Sanctuary. Finally Tim, wife Jules and Chloe the labrador have lived aboard their Tayana 48 Mojito for the past four years, cruising the US East Coast and Caribbean before crossing to Portugal in June 2020.

Daria’s account of the Retreat from Paradise will be found on page 18 of Flying Fish 2020/2, with Alex’s Lessons Learned from Providing Shore Support following on page 28. Both are available on the OCC website at https://oceancruisingclub.org/Flying-Fish-Archive.

THE OCC BARTON CUP

The Club’s premier award, named after OCC Founder Humphrey Barton and donated by his adult children, twins Peter Barton and Pat Pocock, the Barton Cup was first presented in 1981. It recognises an exceptional or challenging voyage or series of voyages made by an OCC member or members.

Little remains to be written about Bert ter Hart’s remarkable singlehanded circumnavigation via the Five Great Capes, during which he navigated entirely by ‘traditional’ means. Instead we have Bert’s own two-part account of the voyage, begun in Flying Fish 2020/2 and completed in this issue, starting on page 23.

This tells us of the extensive pre-departure preparation and upgrading of his 45ft Seaburban – much of it done by Bert himself, aided by his wife Nani – his departure from Victoria, BC in October 2019, and his return in July 2020 to a very different world.

Sailing without sponsorship – other than an OCC

Adventure Challenge Grant – in the 32-year-old heavy displacement, long keel cruising yacht which he’d owned for 12 years, Bert likened his voyage to doing the Paris-Dakar Rally in a motorhome.

The OCC Challenge Grant allowed him to buy satellite communications equipment and send regular progress reports back to Nani and his ‘Shoreteam’.

As the voyage progressed he built up a worldwide following on social media, including some 2500 children, whom he The Barton Cup, Bert enjoying the respite off aimed to inspire with his lifelong our premier award New Zealand’s South Cape passions for ocean and atmospheric sciences. With (see page 30) advanced degrees in maths, physics and physical oceanography, Bert has studied the role the world’s oceans and coastal seas play in moderating and regulating climate, nutrient productivity, pollution distributions and salmon migration, and is a keen advocate for the citizen scientist in all of us. The extraordinary voyages of early Spanish, Dutch, French and British sailors and mapmakers have been an ongoing inspiration for Bert, who is an enthusiast for traditional navigational skills and techniques. Not many recent circumnavigators can claim to have ‘carried Stark’s solutions to the Lunar Distance problem in case of a complete collapse in timekeeping (but) never resorted to them for anything other than amusement’!

Bert’s thoroughly seamanlike attitude is summed up by his comment that:

‘I arrived back in Canada with a boat and sails in good enough condition to set out again on a similar trip in a matter of weeks. ... This, I can only imagine, would be the goal of every sailor – sailing the boat or yourself to bits when help is highly uncertain at best is simply foolhardy. The end goal, as far as I was concerned, was to arrive back in the place from which I had departed with myself and the boat in very nearly the same condition as when I had left.’

That he achieved this was confirmed by Past Vice Commodore Tony Gooch, who presented Bert with the ‘virtual’ Barton Cup following the 2021 AGM.

Bert on arrival in Victoria, BC. Photo Dr Don Butt

On learning from Commodore Simon Currin that he had been awarded the Barton Cup for 2020, Bert wrote:

‘I am absolutely stunned. It is an honour and privilege that I really have no words for. I remember reading through the list of previous recipients before I left last year and marvelling at the names and accomplishments of those sailors, many of whom have been a profound source of inspiration to me.

It really hasn’t sunk in. Please know that I am humbled and deeply grateful to be awarded the OCC’s Barton Cup. I cannot help but feel as if there must be some other voyage more deserving than my own, considering the extraordinary passages made by so many other intrepid, brave OCC skippers. Thank you for this tremendous and singular honour.’

Of all the inventions and improvements the wit and industry of man has discovered and brought to perfection, none seems to be so universally useful, profitable and necessary, as the art of navigation.