Coop's Corner

In mid-March, I was at home riding out the third blow in as many weeks. Absent electricity for a few hours, I was looking for a simple read. I discovered a little book that had floated to the surface recently. It is thin, just merely 56 pages so, just the right size, and a lovely read, by E.B. White. This little picture window in words is called Here is New York. Reading this lovely little snapshot of New York City, I was reminded the first time I was there, late May of 1980.

Australian born, Joe ‘Coop’ Cooper stayed in the US after the 1980 America’s Cup where he was the boat captain and sailed as Grinder/Sewer-man on Australia. His whole career has focused on sailing, especially the short-handed aspects of it. He lives in Middletown, RI where he coaches, consults and writes on his blog, joecoopersailing.com, when not paying attention to his wife, teenage son, dog, two cats and several, mainly small, boats.

As sailors we know, at some level, that we are part of a remarkable community. If you drive into a new town and drive down to the docks, you will look at the boats more or less by yourself, generally as a stranger, an outsider, a landsman. If on the other hand you arrive by boat, within about 20 minutes of turning off the engine or putting the sail cover on you will know half the other sailors on the dock.

Randall Reeves has embarked on a first-ever circumnavigation of both the American and Antarctic continents in one season. The route will pass through all of the world’s oceans, approach both poles, and round Cape Horn twice. No one has done this before. No one has even tried.

Australian born, Joe ‘Coop’ Cooper stayed in the US after the 1980 America’s Cup where he was the boat captain and sailed as Grinder/Sewer-man on Australia. His whole career has focused on sailing, especially the short-handed aspects of it. He lives in Middletown, RI where he coaches, consults and writes on his blog, joecoopersailing.com

Consumer warning: This month’s column is all over the lot. There’s a lot of sailing going on here in the Ocean State, and it’s hard to keep it all in order.

Yup, Annapolis is a lovely city with lots of sailing. But Sailing Capital of the World, at least as measured by the diversity of sailing boats passing through or calling Newport their hailing port? I don’t think so.

By Joe Cooper Early June: Summer is here, pretty much, for sure, I’m certain, I think. If it is here, it is a great time to stretch out on the cockpit seats and catch up on all the bestsellers you’ve been missing out on. Or if you’re like me (and yes, that phrase did give me pause), you might dig back into some of your favorite books…on sailing of course. Some of mine are discussed this month….

Win, lose or…well, there are no draws, sailing in, and the larger America’s Cup experience is one of the most profound experiences in sailing, or at least it was for me.

Last month, I attended a yacht design contest at the Paul Cuffee School in Providence, Rhode Island. The Cuffee School is named for one of the early successful black businessmen in the New Bedford whaling industry.