Letters

To Whom It May Concern, Hello, my name is Heather Rose Tholen. I was given a vintage wooden Alden Yacht from a boat graveyard and I am restoring her in a four-year project. As I work on her, I wonder so much about the person who built her. I love studying history and I recognize this wooden yacht as a piece of art. Her name is the Miracle. I hope to train so that I can solo…

The Birds Aboard article by Dorothy Wadlow caught my eye. My friend with five others delivered his Oyster across the Atlantic from St. Maarten to Spain in order to do some cruising in the Med and Adriatic. After a mixed sail and motoring some of the time, we picked up two pigeons off Madera. They settled on the rear deck and looked fatigued. We gave them water and crushed cereal as we had no bird food. They seemed…

I just read your article on Cole. So right you are. I am a grandmother and know nothing about sailing. I don’t know how I found her, but have been with her every day. I pray to Jesus for her success. She is already a huge winner in my eyes. Wow…she even just taught me how to give myself a facial. That girl!!! Dorthy Demauro, via email Dorthy – We’ve featured many inspirational sailors on the pages…

Dear WindCheck crew, When looking up Peter Cooper the previous owner of our [Hinckley Bermuda 40], I came across your Eight Bells remembrance of Mary M. Savage. As an avid racer myself, I was quite impressed with her accomplishments. You believe that the photo in your article was taken on Peter’s Pumpkin Shell on the way back from Bermuda. I laughed when I read that, “according to Mary, not an easy passage. I believe they were down to bare poles at…

Dear UK Racers, Customers & Friends, UK Sailmakers |Northeast would like to congratulate the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, the Boston Yacht Club and the Storm Trysail Club for hosting two great sailing events. We often overlook the planning and preparation that goes into hosting an ocean race and a week of racing with terrific shoreside fun. There are many volunteers for each event and UK Sailmakers thanks all involved for your time and effort! UK|NE would like to recognize…

Ben, I am pleased to see the focus on women in sailing that WindCheck has been doing, and a monthly bio is an excellent way to share. As a Past Commodore of the Beverly Yacht Club, I can say we have focused on women in sailing for decades with very active learn to sail and racing programs. Women also race twice a week in H12s and Bullseyes.  I also enjoyed Coop’s interview with Sara Stone, a very…

Hello WindCheck, William Strassberg’s article, and intro by Ralph Naranjo (April 2022; windcheckmagazine.com/article/when-the-wind-is-howling-i-am-thankful-for-our-culture-of-safety/), was a delight. While not new to the ideas (I was Ralph’s editor for The Art of Seamanship), I was thrilled to see them in WindCheck.  My hope is that crews of all sorts initiate these conversations—especially those on board that might not always feel they have experience or knowledge. An onboard culture that values curiosity and suggestions is a safer environment, with the caveat that…

Dear WindCheck, Kudos to your fine magazine, editor Chris Szepessy and contributor Rick Bannerot for chronicling the trend of young sailors pursuing coastal and offshore sailing. The experiences, lessons, comradery and pure enjoyment of being offshore are compelling drivers. All that is needed to inspire sailors is access to them. The source of the Figaro 2s chartered by Stamford and Noroton Yacht Clubs and so spectacularly portrayed on the cover of the March issue is the Collegiate…

(Editor’s note: In our October issue, we presented the first part of an interview with Charles “Butch” Ulmer (“75 Years of UK Sailmakers’). The article, which can be found at windcheckmagazine.com/article/75-years-of-uk-sailmakers/, contained a bit of erroneous information on the subject of accidental puncture wounds sustained by sail loft handworkers. Dear Ben, First, thank you for making me a household name in the Long Island Sound sailing world. I’ve never gotten so much press. Second, somewhere in our…

Style Over Safety? Dear Sir/Madam, Looking at the “stylish pinnies” in your March 2021 edition (“MudRatz Ready to Rock!” windcheckmagazine.com/article/mudratz-ready-to-rock/), I wonder about the choice of life jacket color. Almost looks like they are designed to be a camouflage in the water. A couple of years ago, while crewing on a boat my friend’s wife fell off during a knockdown. Being petite she was a little difficult to see in the water because of her dark clothing. We did recover her safely after…