August 19, 1998.
Walking down the dock to "No Barriers" a few days ago, much to our excitement, we saw another boat in beside us that was "one of ours". With a quickened pace, Gwen and I hurried over. She was red. She looked about the same size as "No Barriers". She was flying a foreign flag. Our excitement grew. She too had a Monitor windvane. She looked like a vessel that had sailed many ocean miles to arrive here at the Maritime Center.
On arriving, we saw a face beside the boat. A solo sailor! A member of the family! Sun tanned like a man who had come from far away. As I started to speak, he stuck his hand out and sported a non-southern accent. It was Neil Hunter from Melbourne, Australia sailing his 40 footer "Paladin 2".
Last night we invited Neil over to the house where we are staying. It is a haunted house, but he said that to sleep in a real bed, he would not be woken by the dead. Over a glass of red wine, we spoke the evening away. Neil had begun his preparations six years ago when he made the decision to sail. One night in January 1995, in Sydney, Australia he even said to Mark Schrader that he was going to do the race. We guess Mark has heard that a million times. But here he is, 13,000 miles from Australia and like another horse in the starting gate, waiting to go.
It is great for me to have another 40 footer. Neil's vessel is similar to mine with the more traditional IOR hull shape. Comparing the two boats is interesting. Our water line lengths are similar. He is fraction rigged. We are masthead rigged. His main sail is much larger than ours is. He has no water ballast and has about half a foot more draft. I hope these two boats will offer some exciting match racing around the world. Our speeds should not vary greatly. It is unknown who has the faster boat. Four years ago I had Harry Mitchell to play with. Now I have Neil Hunter!
Neil has no sponsorship and is sailing on a shoestring budget too. Already the swap shop is open. Neil has some good dehydrated meat in excess. I am trying to find something to swap for a few bags of meat. The spirit among the competitors is here, alive and well. It is going to be interesting to see how many folks get us confused. Same first name, red bows, 40 footers, foreign accents. I am just younger and ….?
