Pain in the AIS

Ahoy, and welcome to the weekly roundup! Here’s what we’ve been chewing on this week: Not every sailor that’s lost wants to be found, and sometimes getting a little lost is the whole point of sailing… It’s a fine line. Anyways, on to the news.

In today’s letter:

• Pain in the AIS: Sailor happily lost at sea returns safely.

• Race Updates: The ocean races round the Great Cape.

• Sailing Snippets: Storms, Starlink & Netflix, Fly your own AC40, Puerto Rico Rescue, Rocket ship on a Sailing Ship.

Pain in the AIS

Coast Guard looks for one-comm sailor in the Pacific.

Last week the Coast guard announced they were searching for a missing sailor who departed Long Beach, California on December 18th enroute to Kaneohe, O’ahu, Hawaii. 60 year old Noel Rubio was aboard Malulani, a 32’ Westsail sloop. Rubio was last heard from on December 28th, when he made a phone call to a friend south of Catalina Island.

The only mode of communication he had aboard was a VHF radio. He was due in Hawaii January 18th.

This week, Rubio showed up safely in Hawaii. None the worse for wear, and unaware of the fuss, he had apparently tooken a scenic route in his crossing. While vexed at his disappearance, everyone was relieved to see him, although the Coast Guard did strongly recommend he carry communication besides a VHF.

Quite a few people were quick to point out he should have at least had an AIS. But perhaps, not being able to be contacted was the whole point. After all, isn’t getting away from it all one of the best parts of sailing?

Race Updates

The ocean races ‘round the Great Cape.

ARKEA Ultim Challenge: Charles Caudrelier on the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild passed Cape Horn Tuesday afternoon. So far he has led the race around three of the great Capes.

Ocean Globe Race: Pen Duick VI crossed Cape Horn on Tuesday, with Translated 9 following about 5 hours behind in brisk weather. Translated 9 suffered a knockdown on Wednesday, no injuries were reported.

Maiden and her all female crew continue to break records with first black female crew to race around Cape Horn, crossing the milestone Thursday morning.

Global Solo Challenge: François Gouin rounded Cape Horn on Wednesday, making him the fifth skipper in the race to achieve the milestone.

Sailing Snippets

The best clips & clicks from the week.

🎬 Storms, Starlink, & Netflix: Cole Brauer is the first U.S. woman to race nonstop solo around the world, and is also the youngest. Currently sitting in second place in the Global Solo Challenge, she gave an interview about her adventure so far, and what daily life at sea is like, from the Drake Passage to passing the hours with Netflix. Read that interview here. 

✈️ Private Pilots: The AC40 Class Association announced the first private (and anonymous) buyer of an AC40, joining 11 other teams on the water. It is expected that the private owners will race aboard the boat. The AC40CA was recently formed to oversee events where professional teams compete on equal ground with private teams. Check out this video of how the pilots ‘fly’ the boats.

🛟 Puerto Rico Rescue: The Coast Guard rescued two french sailors 147 nm south of Puerto Rico, and commended the sailors for good use of distress flares. The sailors had been adrift for 7 days after their sailboat was disabled.

🚀 Sailing Ship, Rocket Ship: The world’s first hybrid sailing cargo ship Canopée, made her debut voyage loaded with the upper stage of a heavy-lift rocket due to launch later this year. Canopée uses 4 ocean wings designed by Ayro to use up to 30% less fuel, and won the 2023 Ship of the Year award. As for the rocket ship, we don’t know anything about those kind of ships, but it appears to be large and expensive, as all ships are.

That’s it for this week folks, stay safe out there and well ketch ya next week!