“We are not going back”

AS SEEN IN SAILING MAGAZINE January 2025

"We are not going back”

By BETSY SENESCU

Action-packed racing in a highly competitive fleet: It’s not the America’s Cup, it’s the Women’s America’s Cup where the sailors hope one day to be allowed back into the main event

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli's Maria Giubilei & Margherita Porro

After a thrilling victory in the inaugural Puig Women’s America’s Cup in Barcelona, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli trimmer Maria Giubilei declared, “We are not going back!”

One of the four crew racing the state-of-the-art foiling AC40s for Italy, Giubilei said, “We have just demonstrated that women can do it. We can do it so it’s impossible that we go backwards: we are not going back.”

Women have been participating in the America’s Cup since the 1880s and participation peaked in 1995 when America3campaigned a competitive all-women team. Since then women have continued to hold vital positions on America’s Cup campaigns, but a spot on the boat has been elusive.

Read how women have come one step closer to a seat at the table HERE

Fun at Fifty

Sunsail hosts a bareboat charter flotilla to celebrate their 50th anniversary

AS SEEN IN SAILING MAGAZINE - October 2024

Gazing at the azure waters of Pirates Bight, where yachts gently bobbed and red battle flags smacked in the breeze, I watched as a small armada of dinghies approached the shore. Their crews alighted, nimbly balancing cocktails and props, and paraded up the sand to present their libations with a godlike reverence.

The fleet lines up smartly in the easterly breeze after the sprint to Anegada.

Betsy Senescu photo 

I was one of a panel of judges in a rum drink contest on the British Virgin Islands’ Norman Island and it was serious business. Concoctions like the Blueberry Zing, Chilicolada and Rumscicle (and occasionally a bribe) were proffered, to varying reactions. The affair was lively and creative, a bit naughty and, I’ll confess, an absolute blast

When invited to take part in Sunsail’s 50th anniversary flotilla in the British Virgin Islands, I admit I hesitated. Flotillas, I thought, smacked of follow-the-leader boating and constraints. But I could not have been more wrong. Our week was fluid and stress-free, a medley of parties, activities and friendly competitions on the water and off, and I disembarked with a new attitude and appreciation of sailing en masse.

Read the entire article HERE

As seen in SAILING magazine  

Prepare for liftoff

2024 July 1

   

The America’s Cup kicks off in Barcelona in August, with action on and off the race course

The 37th America’s Cup is right around the corner and what an extravaganza it promises to be, as six teams vie for victory in one of the world’s longest-running and prestigious sporting events. And this year, leading up to the big event are seven weeks of thrilling racing action to satisfy the whims of every sailor.

Read the entire article HERE 

Voyage for the sea

AS SEEN IN JAN 2024 SAILING MAGAZINE

The Polynesian voyaging canoe Hōkūle’a recently completed 2,800nm of its Moananuiākea tour, bringing a message of unity and restoration to thousands along the North American Pacific Coast.

The double-hulled traditional-style vessel had embarked from Juneau, Alaska mid-June on the first leg of a planned 43,000nm, four-year expedition. Over five months the voyagers visited 35 communities, connecting with indigenous people and groups who share Hōkūle’a’s vision of healing and protecting the planet.

SEE THE COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE

Through the big ditch

AS SEEN IN JULY 2023 SAILING MAGAZINE 

The ups and downs of a transit through the Panama Canal

Of my many madcap boating adventures around the world, transiting the Panama Canal is the one that always elicits the most oohs and aahs. It’s been declared “the epitome of man’s mastery over nature,” and “a mighty symbol of a centuries old dream come true,” by some, but most people just call it a bucket list item.

I’d checked the canal off my bucket list nearly 10 years ago, but that gave me a leg up when friends David and Sheri Normandin were looking for experienced crew for their upcoming passage. It definitely is the kind of experience you would do again and again so I jumped at the chance to revisit the Big Ditch.

READ ABOUT THE WHOLE ADVENTURE HERE

AS SEEN IN ULTIMATE SAILING

WORTH THE WAIT

The pandemic put a lot of things on hold and one of the most significant was the 2020 Olympic Games. Across every nation, the world’s finest athletes were holding their collective breath, waiting for the Games to resume. Along with them: primo photographers Jesús Renedo and Pedro Martinez – working as “Sailing Energy” – official photographers for the 2020 Games!

One of their major, most difficult tasks that year, in fact, was just getting the paperwork completed to enter Japan. Covid had a huge impact on protocol, he added: “The paperwork was crazy and lots of media peers gave up, as it was really complex.”

But Pedro and Jesús persevered. Arriving in Japan, “It was like reaching the summit of a mountaintop! And such a privilege, as many fellow photographers were not able to make it.”

Disembarking to an empty airport was “mind-blowing,” they continued. The country was locked down and in the middle of curfew. “This was our second Olympic Games and it could not have been more different than Rio 2016.”

 FULL ARTICLE

As seen in Sailing Magazine 

RACING THE CHARTER WAY

Spice up a charter by throwing in some competitive fun

Chartering isn’t always about lolling around at anchor in turquoise splendor. For avid racers, bareboat chartering offers a chance to enjoy competition in new and exciting venues, with fresh opponents and an international flair. That’s how we ended up at the Caribbean Multihull Challenge, a relatively new event in the winter racing season, organized by the people who made the Heineken Regatta synonymous with seriously fun racing in paradise.

 FULL ARTICLE