Where were they going without ever knowing the way? That's a good question! Looking back on our past experiences with cruising sailboats, we always find ourselves in trouble while enjoying a glass of sangria in the Azores and Canary Islands. In 2014, after making our first Atlantic Ocean crossing from Miami to Horta (Faial), we got to talking about an aluminum boat that could one day take us to the Arctic. We had high hopes, and lots of delusions, that we could complete a 9 month full refit on this hunk of metal that had been abandoned in Southern Florida for 10 years. 2.5 years after moving her from storage to the work yard (and that was after crossing BACK across the Atlantic to return on our first cruising boat to Florida), we did splash the Alu boat and head out for a grand adventure. Completing our goal of sailing her into the Arctic Circle, we had been wintering over in the UK when we decided to escape the cold for a few weeks and take advantage of incredibly cheap flights to Tenerife. Think $140 round trip. Sitting in a Montaditos, we discussed how poor the aluminum boat was at sailing, and how much we missed the performance cruiser of our previous Sabre. But...multihulls were the future, and honestly, I was tired of getting seasick from every passage we went on. Mart had hopes for another refit, but I was adamant that the kind of time and effort we'd have to dedicate would be much better spent on a new build. We researched home builds and were eventually contacted by Max Cruise in the process. Once again delusions took over as we thought we could complete this build in 2 years. As you can see, we're already well past that, with at least another year on the horizon. Would I change ANYTHING about the steps we've taken in the past or where it has lead us now? Absolutely not. This is exactly where I'm supposed to be in my life, and when this catamaran does hit the water, I know I'll be filled with nothing but pride and joy. 🤩⛵

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CLUB MARINE TV YouTube Channel https://youtu.be/5BSgCX75dHk On a summer’s day when Sydney Harbour showed off its emerald waters at their sparkling best, a small but competitive fleet of four yachts engaged in an intense arm wrestle that lasted little more than an hour for the annual SOLAS Big Boat Challenge. In a battle of cut and thrust between the two super maxis at the front of the race it was Peter Harburg’s Black Jack that eventually won out, crossing the line some 43 seconds ahead of her near twin, the Oatley family’s Wild Oats XI. Wild Oats XI’s little sister Wild Oats X took out the overall handicap win, but it was Gavin Brady the sailing master of the fourth yacht in the fleet, Karl Kowk’s Botin 80 Beau Geste, that captured the essence of this event and just why it is more than a one-off spectacle, ‘There’s nowhere else in the world you will ever see a group of maxis like this sailing in a confined environment. Racing in Sydney Harbour puts a lot of pressure on a team and I believe it’s a big contributor to success in the Hobart.’ The Bow Caddy media team took to the water and the air to paint a picture of the energy, action and pressure of this remarkable event that Brady persuasively alludes to.

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