You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
GEORGE NEWMAN<br />
Skipper<br />
We’ve brought <strong>Mariquita</strong> up to the UK<br />
three times over the years with Jim Thom.<br />
But he’s sailed around the world a few<br />
times so he has a bit more experience than<br />
me! The last two times we brought the boat<br />
up with Jim, in 2010 and 2012, we got<br />
absolutely pounded. He said on the last<br />
trip that he’d never bring her up again. You<br />
have to remember that she’s a day boat,<br />
albeit a magnificent one. So I had that in<br />
the back of my mind when the syndicate<br />
decided to bring <strong>Mariquita</strong> up to Cowes<br />
for the RYS Bicentennial. Leaving Cogolin<br />
on the 1st April was one month earlier<br />
than we had previously set sail so there was<br />
plenty of apprehension.<br />
Thankfully the weather gods were shining<br />
on us and with excellent forecasting from<br />
Chris Tibbs the whole trip took 21 days,<br />
so 10 days faster than in the past. We were<br />
very fortunate – the weather was just always<br />
behind us. However, with one night to go<br />
off northern France, Chris forecast thick<br />
fog for the English Channel so I slept in the<br />
lazarette that final night as we approached<br />
the shipping lanes. With some fine work<br />
from the crew we ghosted through and as<br />
dawn broke we saw the welcome sight of<br />
St. Catherine’s lighthouse, off the southern<br />
tip of the Isle of Wight. It was a great<br />
moment for all of us onboard.<br />
The crew dynamic shrinking to a smaller<br />
number of personnel for 2015 was a<br />
massive head scratch. I had my doubts,<br />
but to be fair it was the best thing we’ve<br />
ever done. In previous years there was<br />
always a split between the crew – between<br />
the shore siders and the live aboards. But<br />
with everyone on board this year it was<br />
all harmony – one of the best crews we’ve<br />
ever had on <strong>Mariquita</strong>. Many people are<br />
surprised when they’re told that in a full<br />
season <strong>Mariquita</strong> may race only 25 to 30<br />
days. The rest of the time is spent training,<br />
working on the yacht, transporting her<br />
around and maintaining the varnish! That’s<br />
the heart of classic yachting. Obviously the<br />
racing is when all that hard work comes to<br />
fruition but for me the teamwork and the<br />
camaraderie throughout the year is the key.<br />
People often ask what it’s like to skipper<br />
<strong>Mariquita</strong>? I can’t get away from the fact<br />
that I’m one of a long line of captains:<br />
Edward Sycamore, Robert Wringe and my<br />
old boss Jim Thom. I’m not sure I’d put<br />
myself in their class but we’re two years<br />
in now and when you look at the photos<br />
from the last couple of seasons and you<br />
look at the yacht, she looks good, just like<br />
she would have done in 1911. That’s what<br />
I’m most proud of … to be a part of that<br />
history even for a few years is pretty special.<br />
225