In 1993, at the ripe old age of 51, I was lucky enough to be asked to participate in an ocean race as a physician/sailor because of a chronic illness of the owner/captain that had almost cost his life on his last ocean passage. That was my first blue water adventure and I never looked back – I love it – the challenge, the competition, the beauty, the great bunch of sailors on our crew: a group of “mature” men feeling and behaving for 4 days as if we are 16 years old in a football locker room.
In 1996 I saw George Coumantaros win the Lighthouse trophy – with so much class. It was as if he found the Holy Grail of sailing and winning a Lighthouse became a personal goal then. The question was: would I live long enough and would I be lucky enough to have a shot at it. In 1998, we lost by 2 ½ minutes – less than a second per mile. That meant a new boat – and in the second try with IMX 45 Temptress – the third boat over 12 years – we won in 2006.
And now with the monkey off my back, I am looking forward to 2008 with even more enthusiasm and excitement.