THE POOBAH IS USING THIS GREAT SHOT OF BIG O,
THE MOTHERSHIP OF THE VERY FIRST BAJA HA-HA IN 1994,
TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT THE OFFICIAL ENTRY DEADLINE FOR WHAT IS LIKELY TO BE THE LAST HA-HA IS SEPTEMBER 1.
So this could be your last chance to sign up and be a part of Ha-Ha Legend.
The Poobah might allow late entries, but they probably couldn't be included in the Meet the Fleet booklet, get the boat name on the t-shirts, or even get all the swag. He'd hate to see that happen, so please make the deadline.
Big O is one of about 17 Ocean 71s built to be the fiberglass version of the great Van de Stadt 74 Stormvogel, the first ocean racing maxi. The South African ketch took line honors in the 1961 Fastnet Race but also played historical roles in both the TransPac and San Francisco Bay racing.
Stormvogel returned for this year's Fastnet Race in England and acquitted herself well in some nasty conditions.
The photo of Big O was taken five months after that first Ha-Ha. She's seen racing in her sixth Antigua Sailing Week under the Poobah's ownership, back when Sailing Week was a huge international event with as many as 240 boats. We had 35 crew, most of them women.
Following that Sailing Week, Jim Drake took the boat across the Atlantic and across the Med to Turkey, then back to the Caribbean. After that, a two-week unauthorized stint in Cuba with Dona de Mallorca, the Poobah's then-new girlfriend.
The Poobah sold Big O about a year or so later, at which time she became a very busy charter boat out of Comox, Vancouver Island. She tragically burned beyond repair in a shed fire just a few years ago.
As with many things, the Poobsh never fully appreciated Big O until she was gone. What a yacht! So many memories!
And now is your time to make memories in the Ha-Ha before it, too, is likely gone for good.
You can sign up here. Hoping to sail south with you.
|
