Author: Joe Cooper

It’s not often you run into two guys in their early twenties who have already racked up some serious performance credentials in the sharp-elbowed world of professional offshore solo sailing. German sailors Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink are two such characters. I spoke with them at Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard during the Newport stop of The Atlantic Cup.     Coop: Guys, congratulations on your third-place finish in Leg 1. You must be pretty happy with that……

Kate Somers (widely known as Wilson before marrying Brandon Somers) is a lifelong sailor and has morphed sailing and her interest in technology into her own media and web design firm in Rhode Island called risingT. Coop: Kate, thanks for jamming this into the midst of your work for the Newport Bermuda Race. Kate: (Flat out like a lizard drinking sigh) Sure, no problem. Thanks. Coop: Where are you from, and was sailing a “thing” in your…

The Complete Guide for Dinghy and Yacht Racers By Mason Stang and Udi Gal Adlard Coles, an imprint of Bloomsbury 304 pages Flexiback $35 Review by Joe Cooper The literature of sailing is well supplied with books intended to further the goals of the aspiring racing sailor, or even in some cases, the expert. Mainly they are by the usual suspects: Melges, Jobson, The Daves (Perry and Dellenbaugh), Elvstrom, and even Manfred Curry. The Sail Racing Bible…

This month I’m diverging from the usual Women on the Water story line. There’s a young woman on The Prout School Sailing Team, Madeline (Maddie) Ammatuna, known almost universally as Tuna. I discovered an interesting dichotomy between Tuna and her Mum, Kate Ammatuna. Tuna loves sailing and Kate does not. Interestingly, both attitudes stem from early experiences. I recently sat with them after practice. Coop: Ladies, thanks for staying after school as it were. Both: (Chuckles) We’re…

Not necessarily because I come from a family of scribes, though it cannot hurt, I have been musing on writing a book. For some time in fact. One wise wag once remarked, “If you’re going to be silly enough to want to write a book, write about what you know.” Following that wisdom narrows my content field dramatically. Astrophysics is out, though my uncle was just that. Economics? Nah. I’ll write about Sailing. The boats, the adventures,…

Photo by Manon le Geun     We left our last conversation with Peter discussing Patriot Sailing and their work with returning and damaged veterans. There is another sailor out there, Kevin Le Poidevin, a 31-year veteran of the Royal Australian Air Force, also representing and promoting groups supporting returning service members through Soldier On. Coop: When you finally had some VMG with the Project, where did you go for resources? A Mini is a sailboat, but…

Photo by Manon le Geun In part one of this interview, I with spoke Peter about finding The Mini World and the broken rudder episode.  In this second part we discuss some of the background of U.S. Patriot Sailing and the work they are doing in that community.   Coop: Back to the beginning, as it were. You found a Mini, bought it, and set the Mini Transat as a goal. PGN: Yup. Coop: So, how did…