Clownshoes here…I’ve been on the prowl for a while now scoping out other boats as I look towards the horizon and try and make the break from land, and I wanted to relate a sweet story about one that I had found.
After many searchtempest views and ebay scours, I was laying in bed one night cruising the craigslist search app on the droid, and came across a link for a “Shamrock 30″ in Annapolis. Not having any idea what a shamrock 30 was, I poked around on google and found out that the Shamrock was the boat that basically launched Ron Holland‘s career in yacht building. This guy is currently credited with the worlds largest sloop, and designs fantastically gorgeous pleasure yachts for the rich and famous. (http://www.ronhollanddesign.com) The original was built for a 1/2 tonner race class, and it was so successful that he was able to launch his own design business. His first orders were for Shamrocks, to be a production version of his original shamrock design and built by Killian Bushe, of Ireland. (http://www.killianbushe.com) These guys currently are responsible for building the Volvo ocean racers making sailing news around the world. As a side note, I also found out that Stuart Woods, the best selling author, had purchased one of the original run. (http://www.stuartwoods.com) Having recently discovered sailing, he ordered a shamrock and practiced in time to make the ’76 OSTAR race, sailing from Europe to the United States. He completed his voyage, placing a respectable 45th out of 125. He subsequently wrote his first book, a true accounting of his life at sea (Blue Water, Green Skipper), and went on to become a best selling author.
Being that it was craigslist, I hit the seller with an email and forgot about it, expecting no response. No such luck. The guy emailed me back almost immediately, and we went back and forth about her for a couple emails, and ultimately ended up on the phone. Come to find out, the boat that this gentleman has for sale is Golden Shamrock, the exact boat that was ordered by Mr. Woods and sailed by him during the ’76 OSTAR. Needless to say, my ass was on a train to Annapolis as soon as I could book a ticket and, although she turned out to be too much work for me to tackle, she is still a gorgeous girl. More pics of her can be seen on the flickr @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/66632238@N02/sets/72157628811922855/
In the mean time, I’m off to Rigger’s Certification this Friday, and I’m working on a super awesome update….more when I figure out the details. Enjoy the pics.
- CC
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