Ahoy! Welcome aboard I’dRatherBeSailing, the sailing newsletter that is on DockTalk, not TikTok. Here’s the best of this week’s stories and snippets from around the sailing world.

In today’s letter:

• Race Roundup: Australia wins SailGP, and more updates from this week in racing.

• Story of the Week: Sailing From Massachusetts to Panama With Just Two Stops.

• Tallship Rescue: A 17th Century Replica ship rescues stranded sailboat.

• Ode to Bareboating: All about time and place.

• Sailing Snippets: Wooden boatyard arson, world’s worst deckhand job, and Eight Bells for John Stobart.

The Ocean Race: 11th Hour Racing Team won leg 4 of The Ocean Race, leading the fleet into their hometown of Newport, Rhode Island on a spectacular spring afternoon in New England. 

Golden Globe Race: Capt. Gugg due to cross the finish line in the next day. He is the last of 3 entrants left of 16 starters. 

SailGP: Aussies win the $1 million prize, making them the crowned SailGP champs for the third successive season. In case you missed it, below is a fantastic video from PlanetSail that breaks down the entire race, all in less time than the race actually took.

Sailing From Massachusetts to Panama With Just Two Stops

Tom Linksy and his wife feel the call of the South Pacific, and sketch a plan aboard their recently refitted Dolphin 460 catamaran, Ocean. The planned route takes them from their home port in Massachusetts to Bermuda, a stop in Puerto Rico, and then on to the Panama Canal, with plenty of high seas tight-reefed sailing along the way. Read the full story in Cruising World here, and the excerpt below.

One evening, a prolonged 25-plus-knot blast sent us surfing down a steep sea at 18 knots. The autopilot steered blithely onward. But the brief thrill ride through the darkness freaked us out. We double-reefed the main—we were happy averaging 8 to 9 knots—and concluded that we needed a better sail strategy for running deep in intensified trades…

By the time 26 million gallons drained from the Miraflores locks, the final southbound lock, lowering us 27 feet to sea level, and we motored around the bend and under the final bridge, we saw a thin blue horizon waiting ahead: the Pacific.

Tallship Rescue

A duo of sailors found themselves in a dire situation when their sailboat's rudder broke while they were approximately 50 nautical miles off the coast of northern France. The stranded and drifting sailors, who were on the sailboat Corto, sent out a distress call and awaited their fate.

To their amazement, a gigantic wooden ship responded to their call for help. The Götheborg, a full-size replica of an 18th-century ship constructed using the materials, tools, and building methods of that time, came to their rescue.

David Moeneclaey, the skipper of the Corto, was in shock at the Götheborg's swift arrival, and he recounted his experience to the Swedish East India Company, which owns the Götheborg. He stated, "The arrival of the Götheborg on the scene was rapid and surprising, as we did not expect to see a merchant ship from the East India Company of the XVIII century. This moment was very strange, and we wondered if we were dreaming. Where were we? What time period was it?"

The Götheborg crew offered to tow the Corto to Paimpol, a French port. The sailors were towed through the water by the 788-ton wooden ship for about a day before approaching the coast. They then radioed for a smaller boat to assist them in reaching the shore.

The Götheborg crew waited until the rescue vessel arrived and ensured that Moeneclaey and Simon, his friends, were safe. The sailors expressed their gratitude to the Götheborg's crew and shared several photos on Instagram a few days later.

The crew of the Götheborg expressed their pride in assisting the sailors, with one crew member saying, "It's a great story, and we are very proud that we were able to help!"

You can see photos of the boat being towed by the ship on the Gotheborg’s instagram @ theswedishshipgotheborg

Ode to Bareboats

Chris Caswell knows a thing or two about bareboats; he’s been on them since they were more or less ‘invented’. His takeaway: There’s a time and a place for bareboats, and sometimes it’s all about the time it takes to get to a place. Sure, he’d love to sail Thailand on his own boat, but then he’d have to cross the Cape of Good Hope. For Chris, that’s a nope. Read his piece here, with an excerpt below.

I have been chartering for a very long time. I actually knew Charlie Cary when he launched The Moorings with a fleet of six Pearson 35s. I don’t want to offend any owners of Pearson 35s, but it was a most unlikely boat for bareboating, especially when you consider the luxurious staterooms and airy salons on the catamarans in charter fleets these days.

The Pearson 35 had a V-berth in the bow, which was not particularly, um, conjugal. There were a couple of pull-out settees in the cabin and a narrow pilot berth tucked above one. The head was eensy, and it was a wet head. The active words there are eensy and wet—you would soak everything if you dared to shower, and you couldn’t turn around.

The galley ran under the entry from the cockpit, with the top step being the galley counter. This gave bareboaters the opportunity to step directly into the peanut butter sandwiches being made, or to deposit salt from their Top-Siders that would pre-season any steaks laid out later.

But it was grand fun. I was hooked, and I’ve loved bareboating for decades.

Sailing Snippets

Shock and Fire: A fire ripped through the Underfall Boatyard, which was home to a number of traditional wooden boatbuilders and businesses. The tragedy was deemed arson. A man as been charged and arrested in connection with the incident. Read the report here.

Indentured Sailing: This deckhand job listing that requires you to do, well, everything. For a good laugh, check out the worst cruising job in the world here.

Idiots in Powerboats: Sailors have a time honored tradition of Watching Idiots in Powerboats. Today’s award goes to this guy in a cigarette boat jumping massive swell on Ocean Beach. Enjoy.

Review of the Week: See the walkthrough and review for The Italia 14.98. Is it beautiful, or just another IKEA Boat?

Eight Bells: John Stobart, celebrated maritime painter, dies at 93. “As a sailor, he was terrible,” his wife said. “Once, on Walter Cronkite’s yacht, he was told to tighten the sheet, and John had no idea what Walter was asking. At other times he would say, ‘What do you mean I have to read a map?’ Nobody wanted to get on a boat with him.” Read an article on his life and work in The New York Times here.

Readers Write In

The best of reader comments on the stories and the news. Write in your opinions to be featured in the weekly letter.

“Pigs don’t fly, and neither do boats. Foils aren’t real sailing!” - Anonymous

“It's impressive that he learned how to sail by hiring a captain on Craigslist - I'm not even sure I trust Craigslist for finding a good deal on a used bike. But hey, it seems to have worked out for him (John Jasso) and Roaming Rose.” - Larry P.

“Congratulations to Kirsten Neuschafer on her historic win in the Golden Globe Race, sailing solo non-stop around the world and rescuing a fellow competitor along the way. And let's not forget the well-deserved pint of Ben & Jerry's chocolate ice cream waiting for her at the finish line!” - Jen R.

That’s all for today, we’ll ketch you next week!