Faster ain’t always better
December 2024
By Bob Muggleston
Did anyone catch this year’s America’s Cup? I’ve never been a huge fan, but for sailors of a certain ilk it’s always been must-see tv. Certainly the 2013 version of the contest, in which Oracle Team USA overcame an 8-1 deficit to Emirates Team New Zealand on San Francisco Bay, qualified as such. The win transcended sailing itself. The problem? The boats in the race were 72-foot foiling catamarans. While they are exciting examples of modern tech, and fun to watch initially, unless there’s a storyline like the one in 2013 the novelty soon wears off. It’s not enough that these boats, which look like giant, autonomous spiders, are so fast. The humans aboard them are for the most part out of sight, and race results are decided at the start. If you didn’t see this fall’s event – and my guess is that you didn’t – spoiler alert, New Zealand defended the cup against England. Ho-hum. Bring back the displacement hulls, and the chess match starts. It might not fix the America’s Cup, but it certainly would draw better ratings.
Don’t get me wrong: I love speed. Speed is an essential part of skiing and mountain biking, which happen to be two of my three obsessions. And speed aboard a boat can certainly be a good thing, especially when a storm is approaching, or you’re bucking a foul tide. But even powerboaters aren’t always in a rush, and most sailors revel in the moments when they can turn off their motors, even if it means getting where they’re headed later or not getting there at all.
In this issue of Points East we’re highlighting the life aboard boats that’s conducted at a slower pace. In “Bringing the Old Girl Home,” on page 26, Captain Mike Martel describes his voyage from Maine to Rhode Island aboard a new-to-him 1928 lobster cruiser, which is destined for the charter trade on Narragansett Bay. Mike’s a sucker for an old, wooden-planked boat, and it looks like he’s found another beauty.
Or maybe you’re a purist who prefers a boat with no engine at all? Craig Moodie has written a meditation on just that called “Engine(less),” which you’ll find on page 32. If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of going engineless yourself, but have family members who’d prefer you didn’t, avoid this piece. It will likely push you over the edge.
On page 20 a new contributor to the magazine, Ron Woolley, has written a wonderful piece entitled, “Duxbury to Hull in an Old Rowboat.” The title pretty much tells you all you need to know, with the exception of the distance of that voyage, which was 35 miles. Thirty-five miles in an old rowboat? Yes, that’s what Tom did for fun one day this summer. It’s a great read, and I hope you’ll check it out.
On page 15, frequent contributor Natasha Salvo, who not only recently found herself engineless, but boatless, as well, decides to remedy the situation by getting her captain’s license so she can teach other women how to sail aboard a boat offered to her by Sailing Ships Maine, a non-profit based in Portland. We all know the old adage, “Other People’s Boats.” Natasha takes this concept to the next level in her article “Sailing Into Your Strength.” What a cool feeling it must be to know you’re spawning new generations of female sailors.
And finally, on the slow-moving boats theme, we’ve got a piece on page 12 called, “The Inconvenience of Sailing,” by Will Gerstmyer. These days Will is a part-time liveaboard in Maine, so his article describes not just travel at a slower pace, but life itself, and how as humans in the modern era it’s initially hard to adapt. But the payoff is big, and Will does a nice job describing the process.
Many of the boats we love may be slow, but time certainly isn’t; this is the last issue of 2024. In my own humble opinion it’s been a pretty amazing year for the magazine, filled with great stories told by a diverse cast of characters, many of them new to the magazine. This is what keeps us going here at Points East, and as this year winds down, I’d like to thank both the contributors and the advertisers, who in choosing to be part of this publication, help keep the good ship Points East afloat and on-course.
Here’s to hoping the tradition continues, and see you in 2025.
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