Initials after his name
by John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS 5 Feb 2018 10:05 AEDT
Jon Sanders aboard Perie Banou II © Paul & Steven Stratfold
There is a lot of the alphabet after his name, and an even longer list of firsts, records, major achievements, pioneer statements and other accolades. And it is all because he cannot garden! He’s now 78 years of age, and just completed his 10th solo circumnavigation, having gone all the way back to Carnarvon, right up high on WA’s long, long coastline.
It makes him the oldest person ever to complete a lap, and yep, that’s makes yet another record to add to the long and distinguished list we talked about before. I was intrigued to learn that the previous record was held by the Japanese sailor, Minoru Saito, who completed his eighth lap at 77 years of age, back in 2011.
So as impressive as all that is, it is our own Jon Sanders AO OBE CitWA who will return home on Sunday, February 11, 2018 to more than a hero’s welcome. He is the only person to have done a triple non-stop, and now, the only to have amassed double digits. Wow! You are a star, matey. May you have all the beer and McDonalds your heart desires. Details can be found on the Royal Perth YC FB page, so if you are in the West and can be out there on anything from an icy pole stick upwards, then please welcome back to port a true star. PerthNow wrote a delightful piece on Jon, which you can read here
Ready to go about? Helm down. Back in The tale of two cities, our Peter Rendle commented that perhaps the Kiwis should look at Sydney as the alternate for AC36. Despite the tongue in cheek, there were actually distinct, positive, and valuable elements to it all.
As is oft the case with anything to do with the America’s Cup, there are more twists and turns than you will find at a licorice factory. Specifically, it seems the economic impact of the event was grossly overstated, and that there is a distinct chance that it would not return more than the investment. No wonder many a Kiwi is left wondering why the Government is so hell bent on having the circus come to town at all.
If they are so keen on having it, perhaps they could learn from ‘Big Red’ who passed away last week after his enduring battle with the Big C. During his tenure with the F1 GP, many of the figures attached to it all remained in a lock down the envy of any corrections system. Cannot also help thinking that Kiwis need to perhaps watch Sir Alec Guinness once more.
Bye Bye also to another stalwart. This time it was the magazine, Australian Sailing. Created by Kiwi Finn Sailor, Bob Ross, and Ken McLachlan in 1976, the magazine was bought by Yaffa Publishing 10 years later and Ross remained on as Editor. Vanessa Dudley followed him in the chair, and was the magazine’s last real sailor to hold the position.
All in all it marks the largest change in the media landscape, and you can be sure that there are still more to come. There is an old adage that ‘Content is King’, and for sure this is true, but today, where instantaneous is the guiding star, and everyone is a reporter, it is more like ‘Good Content is King’. Time is our most precious commodity, so you need to be good to command some of it! This is immediately followed by a thank you to those that do so – it is appreciated.
Right then. News time. Here are some gems for you to review. We have information from the Clipper, Miami World Cup, Warren Jones Regatta, 18s, Superyachts in Antigua, more great ieducation from North Sails, J24s, classics returning home to the Derwent, Olympic decks gets shuffled (but not totally as expected), SuperFoilers have their first hit out and it offers everything, Kristen Anderson gives us more reasons to take the leap, Five-Ohs, ‘Plymo’ gets more letters after his name, and certainly there is much, much more.
Remember, if your class or association is generating material, make sure we help you spread your word, and you can do that by emailing us.
Finally, keep a weather eye on Sail-World. We are here to bring you the whole story from all over the world…