Tom Cunliffe Joins the Crew of the 135ft Schooner Eleonora for the Caribbean 600 Race
One of the great wonders of sailing is that, no matter how wide our experience or how long we’ve been at sea, none of us has seen it all. Take me, for example. When asked, I generally say that an extended life on the water has put me at the helm of everything from a Firefly dinghy to a square-rigged ship and filled in most of the gaps between, but at the end of February this year, I rediscovered the schooner.
The first boat I sailed for a living was the schooner Hindu out of Province town, Massachusetts. Designed for the Bermuda Races, she gave me a good start. Later I served aboard a working trader, then it was Olin Stephens’s 1930s masterpiece Brilliant under the late Captain George Moffett. Fine vessels all, but none prepared me for the impact of sailing aboard Eleonora in the RORC Caribbean 600 race.
Eleonora was launched in 2000. She is a straight replica of the 135ft, 214 ton Herreshoff schooner Westward. Under the command of her Scottish captain, Charlie Barr, Westward swept across the Atlantic in 1910 to take 11 1sts in 11 starts against the smartest Europe could produce.
This is Eleonora’s heritage. She was born to race, but sprints around the cans mean an exhausting workout for crews handling spinnakers and golly wobblers the size of a supermarket car park; the boat is hardly into her stride before the interesting sails are dropped for the next beat.
The RORC Caribbean 600 is different. The race could have been dreamed up for schooners. Set across the north-east trade winds among the islands around Antigua, it features reaches up to 150 miles long, a beat or two and the odd run that, with luck, shouldn’t be too extended.
This story is from the May 2017 edition of Yachting World.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2017 edition of Yachting World.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
wallywind 110 launches
The first example of Wally Yacht's new wallywind performance cruising range launched this summer, during the iconic Italian brand's 30th anniversary year - and in time for its debut at the Monaco Yacht Show in September.
Irish skipper wins Figaro
Irish solo skipper Tom Dolan took a historic victory in this year's La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec, winning the solo multistage offshore race overall only the third non-French competitor ever to do so.
Youth AC puts on a show
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli's team won the UniCredit Youth America's Cup after a highly absorbing series comprising 12 international teams racing the one-design AC40s off Barcelona.
ATLANTIC BEYOND
SAILING THE SECOND EXPLORATION 60 ON A WEST-TO-EAST ATLANTIC CROSSING WAS IDEAL FOR A RIGOROUS TEST OF GARCIA'S NEW NOWHERE YOU CAN'T GO FLAGSHIP
UNCONTROLLED
HELPLESSLY APPROACHING AN UNINHABITED ISLAND IN THE GALAPAGOS WITHOUT ENGINE OR ELECTRONICS, JON VAN TAMELEN FEARED BEING IMMINENTLY SHIPWRECKED
SECRET ISLAND
BEYOND THE FORBIDDING ENTRY RULES OF TAIWAN IS A CULTURE RICH IN SEAFARING HISTORY AND STUNNING LANDSCAPES, FINDS CAMERON DUECK
LAND OF THE BIRDS
SKIP NOVAK DESCRIBES THE PERILS, CHALLENGES AND JOYS OF A CRITICAL EXPEDITION VOAYGE TO SURVEY SOUTH GEORGIA'S ENDANGERED WANDERING ALBATROSS
FIRST STEPS TO BLUEWATER
YOU CAN GET INTO WORLD CRUISING FROM A STANDING START AND EXPERIENCE THINGS NO OTHER TRAVELLERS DO. CATHERINE LAWSON AND DAVID BRISTOW TALK TO FOUR COUPLES WHO PROVE IT
HARD CHOICES
IN AN EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM HER NEW BOOK, PIP HARE REVEALS WHAT DROVE HER ON WHILE RACING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN OCEAN IN THE 2020 VENDÉE GLOBE.
INTO BATTLE
COULD THIS BE THE MOST COMPETITIVE VENDÉE GLOBE EVER? HELEN FRETTER FINDS OUT WHAT THE SKIPPERS WILL BE FACING.