The Rolex Middle Sea Race Weather Briefing confirmed: it was going to be a wet and wild one. Race start was Saturday, October 20 from Malta, and we had the weekend to get acclimated before the Hell ride began. Light air and tacking around the south easter coast of Sicily separated us from the rest … Read More
As we hold our breath during this Hurricane Season, I look back on the regatta season we spent in the islands still reeling from last year’s catastrophic events. By the time Hermes made it down to the Leeward Islands, it had been about 6 months since Cat 5 Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the Caribbean. … Read More
Beached boats and debris beaches. Marinas that fell from grace, and those that rose from the ashes. Closed businesses, and open ones with no one to enjoy them. The US and British Virgin Islands had a tough recovery season, but a full come back wasn’t possible unless people… well… came back. (Read Part 1 here) … Read More
0545 Day 4: I am equally hopeless and hopeful as I struggle to put on wet foulies for presumably the last time in the dark. It was the final day of the Caribbean 600, but I had this feeling that “it’s always darkest before dawn.” I wanted this race to just be over already, as … Read More
Destroyed spinnakers. Mast track failure. Wind holes. Casualties. These are the kind of things we can expect in the last 100 NM of any offshore passage, and the longer seem to provide more severe sentences. Sure shit happens at anytime offshore, but there is just something about the last 100. It always takes longer than … Read More
Just one year ago we packed up our lives and headed to Greece to take possession of our new boat, Hermes. Our lives were filled with hope and excitement as we were just beginning a new journey for Ocean Racers. One of my earliest memories onboard was unfortunately the US election. As I prepared to … Read More
Quite often we equate success and happiness with the ability to achieve preset, tangible goals. But what happens if we don’t reach those goals? What happens when we fail? In a pessimistic approach, one could say Ocean Racers has a history of failures. We had to abandon two IMOCA races due to gear failures, we … Read More
This is a true story. The events depicted took place in Gran Canaria and Antigua between 2016-2017. At the request of the survivors, numbers have been left out. Out of respect for the lost money, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred. In an ode to our most favorite crime TV shows, I … Read More
As sailors, we know you cannot change the conditions; you have to adjust to them. It may be as simple as adjusting the sails, but sometimes you have to alter your course completely. And alter our course is what we had to do. We started on our new adventure with a new boat, Hermes, and … Read More
Get onboard for all the action of our Mediterranean crossing! From lightening storms to dead calms, breakages, repairs and surfing 20 knots… it was an adventure filled with ups and downs! We picked up our Pogo 12.50, Hermes, in Greece just outside of Athens and headed north to transit the Corinth Canal and cut out … Read More