Messing About In Sailboats

More Francis Joyon photos

Some great shots of Francis Joyon's arrival from flickr by Breton, Erminig Gwenn

L' arrivee

Chapeau* Francis

* Chapeau: Literal translation "Hat". A French form of congratulations, i.e. "I raise my hat to you".

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last year, you will know that Francis Joyon just smashed the Round-The-World-Solo record by 14 days completing it in 59 days, 13 hours.

Congratulations from all the staff at Messing About (that's just me actually) .

 

 

CowesOnline provides an excellent synposis of this amazing feat. Here is the man himself as he returned home.

Rohan Veal meets Thierry Martinez

 

This amazing picture was taken underwater by Thierry Martinez, the French sailing photographer. It's the most unusual shot of Rohan Veal. Here is a video of the making of this shot from Rohan Veal's Youtube page.

The passing of a sailor's sailor - Carleton Mitchell, 96

One of the things about getting older (I am 43 and it's a difficult age) is that I have started paying more attention to the obituaries. I try to find reassurance in the fact that most obituaries are for people who have passed away in their 80s or 90s.

In today's obituaries, there was the announcement by John Rousmaniere of the passing of Carleton Mitchell, the celebrated three-time winner of the Newport-Bermuda race. It's a lovely piece about a man who was a classic 1940s adventurer.  I especially loved this quote that sums up what I love about sailing and the sea:

“No 20th-century man can really escape, but a boat gives a man the opportunity to get away from the turmoil and into direct contact with nature,” he told Gay Talese of The New York Times in 1958, after he won the Miami-to-Nassau yacht race. “Somehow the detached life on the sea gives me the ability to think. It’s a life of action, yet contemplation.”

You can read the full obit here. It's worth a read.