Windward Passage
Originally designed as a bermudan ketch she was later converted to a bermudan sloop.
In 1971 she won the Transpac and the record for fastest time. The Chicago Tribune reported:
July 15th 1971.
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July / August Issue No. 299 Preview Now
May / June 2021
Windward passage.
The maxi-yacht WINDWARD PASSAGE began her ocean-racing career soon after her launching in 1967. She was immediately successful, taking line honors in some of the world’s major events. “PASSAGE,” as she is affectionately called, is seen here soon after the start of the 1975 Sydney-Hobart Race.
"No maxi ever built can match WINDWARD PASSAGE I for pure glamour,” wrote the author Preben Nyeland is his book Maxi: The Ultimate Racing Experience. “Just the drop of her name at a sailor’s bar can focus attention and start a long conversation.”
There’s nothing ordinary about this 73' cold-molded racing rocket or her 53-year history. She gained nicknames such as the “Wooden Whale,” “Big Dinghy,” and “Passing Wind” from envious competitors such as the hard-charging Jim Kilroy in his maxi KIALOAs and Sumner “Huey” Long in his ONDINEs. But to her loyal crews and admirers, she has always been known simply as “PASSAGE.”
The legend of WINDWARD PASSAGE began in 1963 when Robert F. Johnson, a yachtsman and controlling shareholder of the Georgia Pacific lumber juggernaut, launched his quest to break ocean-racing records. Without regard to racing rules and handicap formulas, he sought line honors and jaw-dropping elapsed-time postings in major Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean, and Southern Ocean races. “It was all about being the first boat to finish,” says PASSAGE’s professional skipper for the past 30 years, David “Halfdeck” Johnson, who is not related to the yacht’s original owner.
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Winward Passage By the Stars
T he 238-nautical mile voyage from Matthew Town, Bahamas, to Port Antonio, Jamaica, was a navigationally interesting one. Our route transited the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti close to the Cuba side where a traffic separation scheme is in place. Though relatively short, the dogleg path made things slightly more challenging than our previous open water crossings with no obstructions. It also provided some coastal navigating opportunities. Additionally, our path passed about eight nautical miles from dangerous reefs near Jamaica. One of those reefs is only 16 feet deep with large breaking swell and an exposed shipwreck.
My wife Monika and I are circumnavigating aboard our 50-foot, Thomas Colvin-designed junk-rigged aluminum schooner Glacier Gem and are navigating primarily via celestial navigation. We are frequently asked what happens when it’s cloudy and we are unable to take celestial sights. The plain truth is that we sometimes don’t know exactly where we are and our position can be worrisome. That is just how it is with intermittent fixes, probably the biggest drawback to celestial navigation.
We have a chartplotter onboard as a backup to our celestial navigation. The chartplotter is a great resource and is available to be switched on at any time. We did not use GPS during this voyage with the exception of recording three GPS positions for later comparison when the trip was complete. The GPS positions in no way influenced our decision making while underway. Having a few GPS positions makes it possible to analyze the navigation afterwards using independent comparison data.
Drawing a chart Unfortunately, we did not have paper nautical charts for this part of the world, instead, we made our own on a large plotting sheet. We would have preferred properly corrected paper nautical charts from a reliable source for this leg, however, outside factors prevented it. Deepwater prevails throughout most of the route and we were comfortable with our plan.
To construct our chart we used lighthouse position coordinates from the NGA Light List to place the relative positions of the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica landmasses. The coastline shapes were freehand copied from PDF nautical charts which are available online.
Next, we recorded the route waypoints in our rainproof logbook and drew additional overall and harbor approach sketches. We highly recommend this step even if you don’t bother with celestial navigation. It is a resilient record in case of electrical failure. The final step was to draw our intended track on the plotting sheet chart. This makes it easy to check progress and can improve decision making.
The voyage We departed May 10, shortly before nightfall on a 41-nautical mile leg to Windward Passage. This was intended to put us at the start of the passage on the following morning, but the weather did not cooperate.
We sailed approximately 12 nautical miles from Matthew Town and the wind died completely. This caused us to drift overnight within visible range of the tall lighthouse in Matthew Town while numerous thunderstorms brewed overhead. The lighthouse beacon allowed us to visually estimate our position through most of the night.
Unfortunately, the Matthew Town light was not visible just before daybreak, due to clouds and thunderstorms. We were unable to get a final exact distance and bearing to the light. We estimated our distance to be 12 to 15 nautical miles off the light at daybreak on day 2. The swirling winds and currents made it difficult to accurately judge our overnight position while we drifted aimlessly.
After daybreak, the wind picked up and we finally made way following our compass course towards Windward Passage. We deployed our vintage 1890s mechanical taffrail log to record our distance through the water. We also used a chip-log to periodically measure our speed. Like other sailors, my wife and I share vessel responsibilities. Navigation is my responsibility. I am responsible for its success and consequently its possible failure.
During mid-morning, I was able to get a sun-moon fix. The fix did not agree with our dead reckoning (DR) position. It put us 10 nautical miles away from it and was highly questionable to me. Sometimes ambiguity is just how it works with celestial navigation. Sometimes you just don’t know exactly where you are. Like a criminal detective, you always second-guess everything.
I was highly suspicious of the sun-moon fix but was unable to get any accurate results to counter the information. I needed a three-LOP star fix, but it was the wrong time of day. The DR positions put us in the right location, but the celestial sights showed our course to be dangerously aligned with an approach to the opposing traffic separation lane!
I switched to the backup sextant to rule out the primary sextant as a possible factor to the error. The primary sextant is one my grandfather used as a professional mariner. It is a reliable C-Plath made in Hamburg, Germany. I have never detected any problems with the sextant. Lately I’ve been getting some erratic sights, which I suspect is from an unidentified personal error. The results from our backup sextant confirmed we were approaching the opposing traffic separation lane. The fact was, four sextant sights using two different sextants were consistent with each other. It was almost undeniable that our DR position had some serious error. I assumed we must have had encountered unexpected ocean currents overnight while drifting around with thunderstorms.
While I was working to positively resolve the discrepancies, Monika raised Cuba on the horizon. Our taffrail log proved to be invaluable because Cuba was in such thick clouds that we couldn’t spot the mountainous coast until we were less than 12 nautical miles away and even then it was just a debatable thin shadow. We should have been able to see the coast at more than 25 nautical miles! In order to positively identify the coastline in the humid and misty weather, we changed course and passed within five nautical miles of land.
We chose to sail close to the eastern tip of Cuba, Point Maisi. I had planned to remain a minimum vertical sextant angle of 0 ° 11’ off the lighthouse. This sextant angle would ensure that we would stay in the southbound traffic lane, remain in deep water, and be more than an arbitrary 6 nautical miles off the Cuba coastline. The US Sailing Directions are very clear that mariners should stand well off Cuba territorial seas (12 nautical miles) to avoid boardings. Cuba has been known to board vessels 20 nautical miles off their coastline. I cut it a bit closer than initially intended.
We planned to see one last fixed aid to navigation on the other side of Windward Passage, a lighthouse, at Point Caleta, Cuba. Then a 178-nautical mile leg to Jamaica would be the only remaining task.
We were passed by several large container and tankships in the separation scheme. Our close proximity to the shoreline posed no obstacle to them. Sailing vessels shall not impede power vessels in these schemes. We observed only three small fishing boats off the coastline and were not boarded by any Cuban patrol boats. In fact, nobody seemed to even notice our presence.
The rest of the way We were able to get a bearing on Point Caleta Light as we passed by. The bearing allowed us to regain an accurate DR position fix and departure. Twelve hours later, we got a solid sun-moon fix which put us four nautical miles to the right of our trackline. Since the wind was dead astern at 15 knots, we were tacking downwind. It’s easier to tack downwind at an angle than to go directly downwind with our junk-rigged schooner. We soon crossed over our trackline again.
In the afternoon, we decided another position fix was needed. We planned to get an evening three LOP star fix. Clear blue skies had dominated all day, but right when nautical twilight arrived, clouds suddenly formed and obscured the sights.
More heaving-to was required during the night as thunderstorms passed over us. The night sky was cloudy and the moon didn’t rise until early morning hours. As we do not have an autopilot, this made it a tedious task to follow a compass course while sailing. Usually, we point at a star on the horizon and follow it instead of tracking the swinging compass, but that wasn’t an option with the dark obscured sky. On top of that, the red colored compass LED light malfunctioned to a blinding white light only. Every time we consulted the compass we lost our night vision.
Once again, our position confirmation was desirable. I planned for another three LOP star fix at morning nautical twilight. I woke up Monika so she could take the helm and maintain our course. When morning nautical twilight came, I initially got a star sight on Sirius, but my watch was turned sideways on my wrist. I couldn’t read the time at the critical moment. I tried again and got the sight. That’s when I accidently dropped my pencil, which fell point down, and broke its lead on the aluminum deck. While I was picking up the lead, and repeating the time outloud so I wouldn’t forget it, the sextant caught on my lifejacket and changed the index arm setting. That was also the moment I realized I needed to use the head. I hadn’t been able to leave the helm because I had been on watch during the morning hours while Monika was sleeping. Now my body wasn’t going to wait for a more convenient time. After resolving those problems, I recorded a three-star sight. Of course then I realized I had been reading the timepiece incorrectly and the times were all wrong! At night, my analog watch second hand marker glow is opposite the pointer. All of the readings were 30 seconds off. As the way things had been going, when it rains it pours, one of the stars went behind a cloud and the other two stars disappeared in the daylight!
Throughout the morning, I tried to obtain a good solid sun line to advance later in the day. I intended to take a single line of position and advance it by the distance run to a sight taken hours later and get a running fix. Unfortunately, sometimes it just doesn’t work like that. It remained cloudy.
At 1815 hours, we sighted the Jamaica coastline approximately 24 nautical miles ahead. Once, years ago when learning to navigate, I made a nighttime landfall to a harbor. After approaching the harbor for quite some time, I realized that the navigation aid light sequences did not perfectly coincide with the navaids on my chart. It soon became apparent that I had made an approach to the wrong harbor. The harbor had a nearly identical light sequence as my destination. I was 15 miles short of my harbor and almost didn’t detect it. Sometimes the human brain will convince itself that everything looks as it should, until it’s too late, and you’re aground! That can happen with traditional and modern navigation. Reliance on a single source of information can be fatal. I am much more careful now, but there are no guarantees in life nor in navigation.
We watchfully approached the coastline, being mindful of the submerged reefs and wrecks of unlucky sailors. We had initially timed our arrival for an hour past daybreak, but our trip took longer than intended. Now we found ourselves with only one hour to spare before darkness. We needed to correctly identify Folly Point Light, off Port Antonio, Jamaica.
Folly Point light is described in the NGA Light List as a white colored tower with red colored bands. The tower we were looking at appeared to be the opposite. It was red colored with white bands. It was one of those subjective situations that doesn’t matter in good conditions but can mean life or death in poor conditions.
Many of the lights in the Caribbean are less than ideally maintained. It is not uncommon for lights to be extinguished or nonexistent. I still don’t know if the light was working as it was daylight when we safely passed it. Upon approach to the harbor, we were initially concerned that building waves, up to 12 feet, would affect our arrival. The waves slowly dissipated as we got closer to shore.
The coastline matched our expectations and there were no other nearby ports, so we continued our approach despite the minute discrepancy. The entrance to Port Antonio was straightforward and mostly as expected. A system of range lights is installed to pass between rock walls into the West Basin. The only real surprise we found was that the western most range is positioned high on the side of a mountain, its elevation makes it not immediately apparent. It was a quick and positive arrival.
I do have to admit, I turned on the depth sounder for the approach as I didn’t feel like swinging the leadline under the time constraint and it was very deep.
Debrief After every trip, I do a self-debrief where I can analyze all data which includes examining the GPS positions recorded. This is one of the best ways to improve skill levels.
The short evening on day 1 only required following a compass course. No sights were taken, so there was nothing of note to review.
The GPS position recorded on the afternoon of day 2 was consistent with the celestial sights. Careful review found my error. I drew the starting location point on Matthew Town Lighthouse 10 nautical miles farther east than its true position. A significant mistake. The DR plot was started from this location which is why there was an unusual 10-mile discrepancy between the track and the celestial sights.
A sun-moon fix in the morning hours of day 3 found our position within four nautical miles of our trackline. This provided great results that were consistent with all of the data taken. Our recorded GPS coordinates showed the celestial fix to be within one nautical mile of our actual location at that time.
An evening star sight of Sirius resulted in a nearly 10 ° error (600 nautical miles). This is my unidentified personal error surfacing again. I double checked all inputs and reduced the sight multiple times. I prefer to directly reduce sights using a scientific calculator, but I even pulled out HO 229 tables for this one. This discrepancy was made somewhere on the reading of the sextant. Perhaps I caught the index arm on my lifejacket again. I still do not know how I created this error.
On day 4, as we approached the coast, two sun lines were taken despite mostly overcast skies. Poor geometry of the resulting position lines did not support a perpendicular crossing fix. However, the lines were able to show our distance off Jamaica and were very close to the trackline. Their accuracy gave us confidence for continuing an approach to the Jamaica coastline.
It can be very rewarding to make a successful landfall using traditional methods. While we love doing this, prudence dictates that using all tools at one’s disposal is the best way to go.
Traditional methods need to be practiced to maintain sharp proficiency. The skills are easily dulled or forgotten. We are thankful that the weather and location was suitable for us to explore our passion of celestial navigation on this voyage. n
Nick Massey and his wife Monika are circumnavigating primarily using celestial navigation. They hope to inspire others to follow their dreams. More info about their travels can be found at www.SailingGlacierGem.com.
VIDEO: The Building of Windward Passage
Published on April 15th, 2021 by Editor -->
An interview with Alister McIntosh about when he helped build the legendary Alan Gurney-designed 73-footer Windward Passage on the beaches of Freeport, Grand Bahamas.
Video uploaded Apr 11, 2021.
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Professional BoatBuilder Magazine
Windward passage in print.
By Chris Caswell , Dec 12, 2023
M y wife dropped the 7-lb package on my desk, asking, “What the heck is this?” It turned out to be a book from WoodenBoat Publications called Windward Passage : A Maxi Yacht in Her Sixth Decade . I dove in.
As someone who has raced aboard Passage , raced against her, and admired her graceful aging for more than half a century, I can say that calling this coffee-table tome spectacular is like calling Niagara a waterfall.
Written by longtime waterman and talented wordmonger Randy Peffer, with a host of superb photos by Steve Jost, my old California friend, this is truly a tribute and something to be treasured by anyone who has ever heard the name Windward Passage .
Engrossed in the words and images spread across the 335 12 ” x 12 “ pages, my memory bell clanged at seeing old crewmates from old races, all aboard the legendary Passage . Intended to finish first and set course records for every race she entered, she was designed by Alan Gurney with nary a look at meeting any handicap rules. (For more on Gurney’s design career, see “Passage Maker” Professional BoatBuilde r No. 151, page 24.)
The 73′ (22.2m) ketch Windward Passage, built for lumberman Robert Johnson, was a defining early step in the evolution of modern maxi yachts and the most renowned of the designs of naval architect Alan Gurney.
Robert Johnson, of Ticonderoga fame, wanted a no-holds-barred ocean racer, had admired Gurney’s Guinevere , and understood that the new Cal-40 was tearing up the offshore circuit with its shallow body, fin keel, and spade rudder. Gurney—an Englishman who apprenticed with Bill Tripp but was then on his own at just 30—and Johnson had agreed on lines Gurney sketched on a cocktail napkin. Alan then singlehandedly churned out the plans from his basement studio on New York’s East 54th Street. Johnson, a lumberman, sailor, and pilot, built her (out of wood, of course) on a Bahamas beach, and the rest is history.
Windward Passage set the stage for the newest of maxi yachts, but there’s that twist in the tale: she was wooden. No one had built a really powerful maxi racing yacht from wood in years: the Kialoa s and Ondine s were aluminum. Gurney’s big surfboard design was as much a surprise as her construction material—layers of cold-molded spruce veneers and aerospace epoxies, and way off the charts in every way. One look told you she was designed to be a surfin’ fool on long Pacific swells.
Windward Passage is a Bluewater Boat
I was a regular aboard Ragtime , also built of wood, which was sometimes a speed bump in the Passage road. We ( Ragtime ) beat Passage in the California Cup, where it was clear that Passage was designed for races where the finish line was thousands of miles, not three or four marks, away. She was a Peterbilt truck in the Indy 500.
Windward Passage’s cold-molded Sitka spruce hull was built on the beach near Freeport, Grand Bahama, in 1968.
I drove my wife crazy with each page turn, calling out, “Hey, here’s Don Vaughan, who I got ripped with at St. Francis Yacht Club on Ramos Fizzes. Look, that’s powerful Arnie Schmelling, who practically tore my arms off when I was opposite him on a Passage coffee-grinder winch in the Big Boat Series. Hey, there’s John Rumsey, who Vaughan towed on water skis as Passage reached past longtime rival Kialoa just to show who ‘owned’ the Big Boat Series.”
The entire book was a most delightful walk down memory lane. But this lavish hardcover is distinguished by more than just photos of old sailing buddies. It is a fine tribute to a fabled yacht, and Steve Jost photographed it as though he were shooting a Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry catalog. Genoa blocks sparkle like diamonds, the coffee-grinder winches (oh, my aching shoulders!) are like ubercool appliances in Williams-Sonoma, and even the lowly pulpit gleams as though sterling silver and not just steel. A teak table literally glows like the finest Scandinavian furniture.
The book includes photographs and detailed drawings of the yacht’s evolving keel designs.
The layout of the book, by Ronald Geisman, is impeccable, and each turned page brings another delight, another prize, another intake of breath. Carefully curated to match Peffer’s perfectly crafted text, the entire Windward Passage saga is laid out, heavy on anecdotes, people, and places from Bahamas beaches to victories in TransPac, from SORC to Sydney-Hobart. Windward Passage dominated every race with power, speed, grace, and, most of all, just sheer beauty. The pictures show her majesty, rolling down seas with main, huge spinnaker, mizzen, and oversized mizzen spinnaker—proud and unconquerable.
And this book is a fitting tribute to that beauty, with never-before-seen images and a level of resolution that make you want to cut them out to frame, if only the book itself wasn’t so gorgeous.
It has a lovely dust jacket, but if you remove it, you’ll find embossed the whale that was on the Windward Passage transom, now a sad memento of Lahaina Yacht Club, which is still smoldering from the Maui fires as I write.
Unlike Lahaina YC, Windward Passage soldiers on, perfectly maintained by new owners with grand adventures in mind. Modern rating rules do not take kindly to wide, shallow yachts designed to surf the Pacific swells, but ratings never mattered to Gurney or Johnson or any of the throngs who sailed aboard her in a relentless quest for first-to-finish and course records. The “Barn Door” trophy for first-to-finish TransPac is, of course, inscribed with the name Windward Passage .
About the Author: A former editor of Sea Magazine and Yachting , Chris Caswell has written nine books on boating and has owned many power, sail, and rowboats.
Editor’s Note: Windward Passage : A Maxi Yacht in Her Sixth Decade is published by Professional BoatBuilder ’s parent company, WoodenBoat Publi cations Inc. Copies are available from The WoodenBoat Store .
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Smooth Sailing in the Windward Passage by Monica Pisani Journey, our 42-foot sloop, Captain Jonathan and myself, his loyal first mate, started our sailing adventure on December 2013 leaving from Florida, although our home was New York City. We sailed the Bahamas, Haiti, the Dominica n Republic and Puerto Rico, and we made our way as far south as Grenada. Since December 2014, we have been sailing north towards the Virgin Islands. When we began to plan our route from Florida through the Bahamas and into the Caribbean, we realized there were two possible choices. The most popular was the Mona Passage, and the more unusual choice was the Windward Passage. With the first choice, you leave the Bahamas via Turks & Caicos, to the northern coast of the Dominica n Republic, and then down through and across the Mona Passage. The second choice was through the Windward Passage, leaving the Bahamas from Great Inagua, passing between Cuba and Haiti, then heading east towards the Eastern Caribbean. Our research included reading forums and magazine articles, and talking to anyone who had done either passage. One day, we found "A Cruising Guide to Haiti" by Frank Virgintino (www.freecruisingguides.com). It was all we needed to solidify our route choice. We opted for the less traveled road, the Windward Passage. We chose Clarence Town as our staging point. We needed a five-day weather window to make it to Great Inagua, the southernmost island of the Bahamian chain, then down through the Windward Passage, an almost 400-nautical-mile trip. The stop at Great Inagua had to be a quick one. The anchorage at Mathew Town is exposed to all but east winds, and the roll is tolerable only under light conditions. The weather window opened up. Journey and another yacht, Fidelis, left Clarence Town bound for Great Inagua on an overnight sail. The wind was manageable but the seas were quite rough, with waves from every direction. Towards the end of the afternoon, the constant banging on the waves caused Journey's boom vang to snap off the boom, crashing onto the deck and cracking the salon hatch. As if that wasn't enough, our jib furler jammed, and would not unfurl. Great start! Luckily, we were close enough to an anchorage called Windsor Point, where we dropped our anchors in the dark, to deal with the problems the following morning. Well, we woke up to a beautiful clear-water anchorage, and two fishermen trying to sell us the freshest lobsters. Our captains worked all day taking care of the boom vang and the jib furler, and as a reward, we all had the best lobster dinner ever! We were underway early the next morning heading to Great Inagua. It was an uneventful overnight sail. We arrived early morning, we topped off fuel, water, provisioned, and checked out of the Bahamas, all in one long hot day. Then we spent a night in the rolliest anchorage ever. No surprise there! We were up with the sun, and on our way south through the Windward Passage to Haiti. We raised our sails minutes after leaving the anchorage. We had light steady wind on our port bow, the sea was calm, and we were filled with anticipation. As we got closer to the passage, Haiti and Cuba grew tall from the ocean floor. It was a welcome sight, after three months of beautiful but flat Bahamas. At dusk, we had Haiti on our port side and the sun setting behind Cuba on our starboard side. The ocean and the sky were painted with every shade of orange - unreal! I could almost hear Celia Cruz singing with her unequivocal raspy voice, and saying, "Azucar"! As the night fell upon us, so did the moon lighting up our path. Bright night with calm seas, almost eerie, with hardly any waves or even ripples. The haze over the mountains and the smell of fires burning filled the air. That smell followed us throughout our time in Haiti. There is a very busy commercial shipping channel in the Windward Passage. Be aware. We motored a bit, but sailed most of the way to the end of the passage, although we were expecting to lose some wind halfway south in the lee of Haiti. Our plan was to reach the southern tip of Haiti, and turn east at night, and take advantage of the lighter easterly winds, thanks to the katabatic effect. As we turned east, we had our last 50-plus nautical miles to go. We stayed only one mile offshore, to get as much protection from the trades as possible. We arrived at Ile-à-Vache, Haiti, by mid-morning. Our nine-day stay in Haiti was one of the most incredible experiences we have ever had. It gave us an insight into human perseverance and resilience, and we learned that no matter what one can always find joy and hope. Beautiful people, beautiful spot! We'll tell you more about that in next month's Compass.
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22 December 2022
Windward passage (gurney maxi).
| , seen here racing in the 1980 Clipper Cup (photo | Facebook) |
| The original design for (above) and interior profile and plan arrangement (below) |
| An early photo of (photo Facebook) |
| during the record-breaking Sydney-Hobart race in 1975 |
| crosses III in San Francisco, date unknown (photo Facebook) |
| surges towards the finish line of the 1977 Transpac Race (photo | Facebook) |
| racing in Sydney in the 1977 Southern Cross Cup (photo Guy Gurney) |
| The conversion of Windward Passage to a sloop in 1978 |
| after conversion to a sloop (photo Facebook) |
| during the 1980 Clipper Cup (photo Guy Gurney) |
| Above and below, during the 1980 Clipper Cup (photos | Facebook) |
| seen here during the 1980 Big Boat Series (photo | Facebook) |
| An aerial view of by Guy Gurney during the 1981 SORC |
| in action (above and below) during the 1982 SORC (photos by Guy Gurney | Facebook) |
| and in close windward mark action during the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo | Facebook) |
| runs downwind during the 1982 Clipper Cup with her spinnaker and blooper in perfect trim (photo Phil Uhl) |
| in strong winds typical of the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo | Facebook) |
| powers upwind in the Molokai Channel during the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl) |
| A contrast in design styles and eras, in light airs during the 1983 SORC, alongside (photo Larry Moran) |
| Key IOR measurements for some of the Maxis at the 1983 SORC (Seahorse) |
| Startline action during the 1983 SORC, with to leeward of , and (photo | Facebook) |
| alongside and during a downwind start in the 1983 SORC (photo Phil Uhl) |
| powers to windward during the 1983 SORC (photo Larry Moran) |
| and (and just visible on the right) in pre-start manoeuvres during the 1983 SORC (photo | Facebook) |
| during the St Petersburg to Ft. Lauderdale Race during the 1983 SORC (photo Larry Moran) |
| seen here during a start in the 1983 SORC, to leeward of the S&S62 (photo | Facebook) |
| along with other Maxis , , and at the start of the Nassau Cup finale during the 1983 SORC (photo | Facebook) |
| seen here during a stopover in the 1983 SORC, with smaller yachts (Class D) and (Class E) visible in the foreground (photo Phil Uhl) |
| under new ownership and sailing in Australia (photo Historiedeshalfs ) |
| - the poster yacht for the 1986 Kenwood Cup |
| in power reaching conditions during the 1986 Kenwood Cup (photo | Facebook), and below, from a different angle (photo Guy Gurney) |
| Above and below, images of during the 1986 Kenwood Cup (photos Facebook) |
| and at the end of the Sydney-Newcastle Race in 1988 |
| looks to be in fine form in these photographs (Facebook) from 2022 |
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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker, and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport. Specializing in fitting the proper vessel for your needs. Cruising and Racing Sailboats , Down East Style Power & Pre-owned Duffy Electric Boats. Please contact me at (714) 931-6710 or [email protected].
Tuesday, December 01, 2020
Notes from my tour of windward passage:.
| Main Salon |
| Galley |
| Navigation Station |
| Owners Salon |
| Owners Stateroom |
| Electric Panel |
| Crew Quarters |
| Half Models old and new keel |
| Bilge |
| Foredeck |
| Custom stanchion |
| Roller Furling |
| Custom Pins |
| Rose wood handles |
| This is the stuff for LP |
| In Catalina |
17 comments:
Len, thank you for this article about one of the most beautiful and timeless yachts of the last 50 years. I was astounded when I (as a 13-year-old boy) first saw the profile drawings of this incredible Alan Gurney design in a boating magazine. I try to walk down the Ardell Marina Dock to view it every time I visit Newport. The boat is maintained in utterly bristol condition. The owners have really done right by her. During her first few years, I enjoyed reading about her many new course records set. Then, one day while laying on the beach at the Balboa Bay Club, the sky went dark. I looked up and saw 7077 on a gigantic sail that was momentarily blocking the Sun. WP was sailing up the bay. I was dumbfounded! I stole a friend's boat and collected another close friend who was also a WP fan. We were so impressed with the boat, and with the 19.5' beam when seen from behind. Great to see interior photos. What a fabulous yacht!
Len--this is an outstanding tour of a dream yacht. I first encountered her in the SORC in 1970. Specifically, the St. Petersburg to Venice Race the last week of January. I was a young chap living in Venice at the time and watched with envy as the "big ones" roared down the coast in front of a blustery norther with Passage leading the pack. And, I waited on the Venice Jetty until the wee hours to see them come beating back up the coast into the 35 knot "breeze". Unfortunately Passage over stood the turning bouy in Boca Grande and let American Eagle slip inside her for the 30-odd mile beat north. Once Eagle started up wind there was no keeping up with her and she was first to finish and first overall. After passage finished in the pre-dawn hours it appeared to me that they mulled coming in the Venice Jetty inlet but misjudged the channel and would up stuck on a sandbar southwest of the inlet. It took a tug to get them off and I seem to recall it bent the keel a bit. Still--she has remained iconic in my mind as I formulated my thoughts of what a great ocean racer should be. She was it and while she may be a bit off the pace now I am glad she is still stout and showing so well. Thank you for this article!
Sailed on many races on Windward Passage..... Notable was the Bermuda Race in 1972 when hurricane Agnes swept through followed by the slow Trans Atlantic Race from Bermuda to Vigo, Spain.... 25+days... ran out of everything but Beck's beer and canned food. She always had a great crew in those days with Don Vaughn, Rex Banks, John Rumsey, Peter Bowker, Kirk Elliott, Dick Haskell and of course chef, Reverand Sandy McKenzie and of course Mark and Fritz Johnson. So great to see her in such beautiful condition.
As a young kid sailing Clearwater Prams and then Opti's, I became aware of the powerhouse WP, no match for the Ondines in the day, well raced for sure.....what a beautiful overlook of how she is today...love this boat, the history....would be happy to test her racing speed today with all the mods....truly an amazing machine, and thankfully the owners get that...a legend, and one of a kind....
Thank you! The Windward Passage just cruised by us over and over at the Huntington Beach Airshow 2017. My family was on deck of the Nordic Blue and we were stunned and mesmerized at the beauty of this amazing boat slowly Navigating between all the anchored boats. So mesmerized I shared about her on FB, and my friend who captains boats got me some info online to learn about her. I love the history and the workmanship keeping her so pristine... Thanks for the pictures!
I had the thrill of watching windward passage come across the finish line at Diamondhead when Mark Johnson was the Skipper, I was on board gary mulls design 33 footer and was racing for the Waikiki yacht club at the time, it was a beautiful site, with the white spinnaker Full, she had a bone in her teeth. Nice to hear she's still alive.
I had the privilege of being aboard the Windward Passage in 1973 (?) Sail checks and such before the Transpac. I’m no sailor, but was so impressed. Lived in Newport for many years and was always so impressed with Windward Passage. A timeless beauty.
Sailed from Ardell's to Honolulu in about 1980 to deliver Passage to the Can Am series of races off Oahu. My close pal was Fritz Johnson back then and he surprised me with the trip of a lifetime. 6 adults and a teenager (Robbie Johnson) Mark's son did the delivery. Dave Birchenough was the boat professional and crew member that moved the boat around for each race at that time. Two other guests were from Flyer, that had won the around the world race the previous year. Scant but dedicated boat pro's and myself and another with no experience outside of a bathtub. What happened in the mid-pacific has been etched in my memory for near 40 yrs. We encountered some wind behind us and had blooper up in front of the mainsail. In no time at all the sea grew to epic conditions with 47 knot winds behind and passage screaming down giant troughs and heeling over trying to mount mountainous waves. The life jackets and lifelines were somewhere under the tomatos in storage. Watched the knot meter bounce off of 20 knots on an upright sprint down a trough. Had a Barient wench in a headlock to survive the crises. Finally the pressure was so great the blooper sail exploded it's frame and the crises of too much sail in too much wind was eased a bit. We were able to reef the mainsail and survived my first time on a sailboat. More adventures were to confront us before we reached Waikiki Yacht club. Don Vaughn met us the next day and laughed about the novices adventure. He was larger than life to be sure. A novices first adventure
I first saw Windward Passage in the water at San Pedro when racing my P-Cat (#465) out of Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club back in the early 1970's. She and several other big yachts were also setting up to race out of the Los Angeles Yacht Club at the time. I was taken by the beautiful lines of this magnificent yacht as I watched her glide by some 10 yards away from me. When she passed by, she left no track or wake... a testament to her smooth hull design. God, what a yacht! One of the few regrets I have is that I never got the chance to sail on her.
I remember this yacht so fondly. It was laid up on a beach. It was originally a ketch. I remember doing a night race once in the late 80’s off Sydney. WP and Apollo were always doing battle. Someone brought a projector on board either WP or Apollo and in light north easterly winds with a huge white spinnaker XXX porn was projected into the kite. Purely to distract the competition. Made the local newspaper as it raised some eyes going past Bondi. It is so glad to hear it is still around and in such great shape. To all involved thanks! Brings back so many fond memories
thank you for posting those pictures as a young guy growing up in sydney australia ,she was a dream boat ,loved seeing her again
I know the Johnson family well and have heard all the accounts of the races. You should see there trophy room!!
I went on board her in Auckland, 1987, hoping to get a paid job. This was my first attempt at being paid to go sailing. Unfortunately they were crewed up. I was in awe of her back then and remain the same today
I had the good fortune to have raced on Passage during her years competing all over the world. Lots of stories!! We did the Bermuda Race in 1982 sailing through Hurricane Agnes and blew out every sail except the storm jib and reefed main. I remember Dottie Johnson asking me if we were going to sink!! After two weeks in Bermuda refitting everything we raced to Vigo, Spain.... The Atlantic High dominated the weather and it took 26 days!! Our cook, Rev Alexander MacKenzie was prepared for a 22 day crossing so the last few days we ate food that no one could imagine..... Mark and Dottie Johnson were great to sail with!!
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Desert Sun, Volume 44, Number 294, 14 July 1971 — Windward Passage Wins Transpac [ARTICLE]
Windward Passage Wins Transpac
HONOLULU (UPD—Robert Johnson's sleek ketch Windward Passage crowded on every inch of sail and became the first of the 69 vessels to finish the 26th biennial Transpacific yacht race and set an elapsed time record in the process Tuesday night. The 73-foot ketch, sailing under the colors of Hawaii’s Lahaina Yacht Club, barreled through rough island waters and took advantage of 30-knot Diamond Head finish line. Windward Passage, travelling at 15 knots with her spinnaker
billowing in the island tradewinds, arrived at the finish at 7:06 p.m. (1:06 a.m. EDT) | cutting 1 hour, 14 minutes, 12 seconds off the old record of 9 ;days, 10 hours and 21 minutes set by Blackfin in 1969. Windward Passage completed I the 2,225-mile race which began July 4 from San Pedro, Calif., |in 9 days, 9 hours 6 minutes and she also broke her own unofficial record in the 1969 race by 18 minutes 11 seconds. Windward Passage was the first to finish in the 1969 race ! but was penalized two hours for interference at the start, i placing Blackfin at the top of the fleet for elapsed time. Race officials didn’t expect Blackfin, skippered by owner Ken Demeuse and sailing out of the St. Francis Yacht Club of San Francisco, to cross the finish until Wednesday, a few minutes after the 73-foot ketch Ondine, from the Larchmont Yacht Club. A race spokesman said at the pace Ondine was making, she would cross the finish about 10 minutes ahead of Blackfin, a 73-foot ketch.
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IMAGES
COMMENTS
A Maxi Yacht in Her Sixth Decade. By Randall Peffer, Steve Jost, Ronald Geisman. WoodenBoat, $75.00. Few world class racing boats have had such improbable beginnings as Windward Passage —conceived by a somewhat renegade logger-entrepreneur-sailor, drawn by an untested young designer, built by a scrum of footloose "sailorboys" out of cold ...
It was the legendary Alan Gurney-designed 73-footer Windward Passage, and as a 9 year old boy, Hank remembers it as the coolest thing ever, particularly as a boat of that size in those days was ...
Make sure you check out our full list of Coolest Yachts. Windward Passage stats rating. Top speed: 25 knots LOA: 73ft/22m Launched: 1968 Berths: 12 Price: €500,000 Adrenalin factor: 50%
Windward Passage. Originally designed as a bermudan ketch she was later converted to a bermudan sloop. In 1971 she won the Transpac and the record for fastest time. The Chicago Tribune reported: July 15th 1971. SHARE THIS: PrevPreviousLadybird. Alegria. CLASSIC YACHT REGATTAS 2024.
major sailing news, ... and she can be considered the first modern maxi yacht." Windward Passage was designed by the late Alan Gurney as an ocean racing record breaker for lumber tycoon Robert ...
The maxi-yacht WINDWARD PASSAGE began her ocean-racing career soon after her launching in 1967. She was immediately successful, taking line honors in some of the world's major events. "PASSAGE," as she is affectionately called, is seen here soon after the start of the 1975 Sydney-Hobart Race. ... The legend of WINDWARD PASSAGE began in ...
The junk-rigged aluminum schooner Glacier Gem. The 238-nautical mile voyage from Matthew Town, Bahamas, to Port Antonio, Jamaica, was a navigationally interesting one. Our route transited the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti close to the Cuba side where a traffic separation scheme is in place. Though relatively short, the dogleg path ...
An interview with Alister McIntosh about when he helped build the legendary Alan Gurney-designed 73-footer Windward Passage on the beaches of Freeport, Grand Bahamas. Video uploaded Apr 11, 2021 ...
The 73′ (22.2m) ketch Windward Passage, built for lumberman Robert Johnson, was a defining early step in the evolution of modern maxi yachts and the most renowned of the designs of naval architect Alan Gurney. Robert Johnson, of Ticonderoga fame, wanted a no-holds-barred ocean racer, had admired Gurney's Guinevere, and understood that the ...
Smooth Sailing in the Windward Passage. Journey, our 42-foot sloop, Captain Jonathan and myself, his loyal first mate, started our sailing adventure on December 2013 leaving from Florida, although our home was New York City. We sailed the Bahamas, Haiti, the Dominica n Republic and Puerto Rico, and we made our way as far south as Grenada.
Windward Passage (French: Passage au Vent; Spanish: Paso de los Vientos) is a strait in the Caribbean Sea, between the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola.The strait specifically lies between the easternmost region of Cuba and the northwest of Haiti. [1] 80 km (50 mi) wide, the Windward Passage has a threshold depth of 1,700 m (5,600 ft).With Navassa Island on its southern approach, it connects the ...
Windward Passage was designed by Alan P Gurney for Robert Johnson of the New York Yacht Club, to replace his earlier yacht Ticonderoga, and the ocean racer was built by Grand Bahama Yacht Builders. She was 72ft 9in long, just below the 73ft maximum length then imposed for the Bermuda Race, with a relatively light displacement of 80,000lb and an ...
LEN BOSE YACHT SALES: Notes from my tour of Windward Passage: Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker, and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport. Specializing in fitting the proper vessel for your needs. Cruising and Racing Sailboats , Down East Style Power & Pre-owned Duffy Electric Boats. Please contact me at (714) 931-6710 or ...
Location: Home port Kemah, TX Currently in Brunswick Georgia. Boat: Hunter 36. Posts: 1,524. Images: 2. Re: Info on Sailing the Windward Passage. I did it back in April, 2010. I was crewingfor imagine2frolic (an old memberhere-now deceased). Once through the Windward Passage, John dubbed it the "windless passage".
HONOLULU (UPD—Robert Johnson's sleek ketch Windward Passage crowded on every inch of sail and became the first of the 69 vessels to finish the 26th biennial Transpacific yacht race and set an elapsed time record in the process Tuesday night. The 73-foot ketch, sailing under the colors of Hawaii's Lahaina Yacht Club, barreled through rough ...
Windward Passage Sailing to Bequia from St. Vincent. The wind was blowing 20 knots and Kenmore's Photography met us in an inflatable. He was alone and standing in the inflatable with a harness and tether to the bow and an extension on the engine steering tiller that he was using with one hand. He had a very expensive digital camera in the other ...
Go to Great Inagua On Your Way Through the Windward Passage! Jane.Joy: Atlantic & the Caribbean: 14: 10-06-2023 17:19: Info on Sailing the Windward Passage: oldsalt_1942: Atlantic & the Caribbean: 8: 16-11-2014 16:59: Want To Buy: Charts of Western Caribe - Panama, Jamaica, Windward Passage to FL. benjiwoodboat: Classifieds Archive: 0: 11-01 ...
The boats name is Windward Passage. Not Wayward Passage. Zoom in on the second photo. There are two Hunters named Windward Passage in the USCG Database of Documented Vessels, One is a 41 which is probably this boat. The other is a 47. Oddly though the 41 states a length of 38.7 ft and the 47 say 48 ft.
The current position of WINDWARD PASSAGE is at US East Coast reported 3 hours ago by AIS. The vessel is sailing at a speed of 5.6 knots. The vessel is sailing at a speed of 5.6 knots. The vessel WINDWARD PASSAGE ( MMSI 338335928) is a Sailing vessel and currently sailing under the flag of USA .
Manitou is a 62-foot-long (18.9 m) performance cruising yacht designed and built for racing on the Great Lakes [2] [6] and specifically to win the Chicago-Mackinac Race. [7] It notably served as a presidential yacht for United States president John F. Kennedy [8] [9] and was known as the "Floating White House." [10] Manitou was built in 1937 at the M. M. Davis & Son shipyard in Solomons Island ...
Her professional crew consisting of 4 members, a fantastic sailing team who ensures an enjoyable and unique sailing experience. The yacht broker Arcon Yachts offers charter of motor yacht S/Y WIND OF CHANGE. Year of construction - 1988/2018; length - 29.0 m; price - €24,000 per week.
Starlink has been hailed as a game-changer by many adopters. Since its launch just two and a half years ago, its coverage has expanded rapidly and many cruisers crossing the Atlantic last season ...
A Coast Guard Cutter Venturous small boat crew arrives alongside a Haitian sailing vessel to investigate a potential migrant venture off the coast of Haiti on July 29, 2024. Venturous' crew conducted a 60-day maritime safety and security patrol in the Windward Passage and Florida Straits. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Dev Craig)
Yacht management training in the Moscow region. In three hours of training, you will learn the basic techniques of managing a yacht, learn some of the specifics of working with a yacht, a helm, sails. €175 Total days: 1. Active days: 1. €175 per active day. There are places in 1 team. Saint Petersburg, Russia.