Landfall in Stamford, CT provides a full range of safety equipment, and the Landfall Marine Training Center offers a wide variety of educational courses for sailors and powerboaters alike.
The crew of Connell Cannon’s Alden 63 Verissimo (pictured at the start of the 2016 Newport Bermuda Race) has completed several courses at the Landfall Marine Training Center. © Allen Clark/PhotoBoat.com
“Our educational effort focuses on making everyone’s time on the water enjoyable and safer,” said Captain Henry Marx, President of Landfall. “With the 51st edition of the Newport Bermuda Race coming up, we reached out to a good friend and Landfall customer, Connell Cannon of Jamestown, RI to get his thoughts on preparing for this year’s race. Connell has raced his Alden 63 Verissimo in several Newport Bermuda Races and the Marblehead to Halifax Race. In 2016, Verissimo won line honors in the Cruiser division and second in class in the Newport Bermuda Race.”
“Experienced sailors look at Newport Bermuda as three races in one,” said Cannon. “The first leg, getting offshore several hundred miles, second, navigating the Gulf Stream, and finally, coping with weather and currents in the open ocean to find Bermuda.”
Cannon emphasizes the importance of a strong crew trained in the skills needed to recognize weather patterns, currents, and surface waves in coastal waters extending seaward past the Continental Shelf. “They need to navigate the Gulf Stream, and must know how to use sophisticated computer models and routing software,” he said. “Captain and crew must demonstrate their competence in all safety at sea scenarios including man overboard drills (the Safety Requirements for the Newport Bermuda Race is 16 pages!)”
“Connell is very serious about safety, personally looking for the best safety equipment and the latest communication technology, and boaters can get the same training as the Verissimo crew through the Landfall Marine Training Center,” Marx continued. “Our 2018 courses include The Gulf Stream: A Racing Navigator’s Perspective, a discussion of the navigational racing challenges of Gulf Stream and Florida Current. Coastal Ocean Weather, Sea State & Medical Emergencies at Sea is two courses in one, the first led by W. Frank Bohlen and endorsed by the Newport Bermuda Race Committee, and the second presented by Dr. Kim Zeh. Our Radar & Electronics Course provides participants with both an operational understanding and the ability to interpret RADAR on recreational vessels, as well as an overview of marine electronics. Finally, the Connecticut Safe Boating course includes an update on the latest boating safety equipment.” For more information, log onto landfallnavigation.com/mtccourse.html.
