09 Aug Benny Allen, Re cap of the Transatlantic
Benny is a bowman on the team. He has extensive ocean miles and currently races on a wide variety of professional sailing programs. After the race he stuck around for a week and a half, to help put the boat away and get her ready for the Fastnet.
Preparing for the Oakcliff All American Offshore Team started in January, when I put together a resume and sent it to the team. When the team was announced, I began mentally and physically preparing for the program.
Over the next two offshore races and one offshore training run, the team accumulated around 1600 miles. We figured out the best ways to peal sails and continue to go fast at the same time. We also realized how easily things can go wrong and the smoothest ways to fix them. For my part as a bowmen, I worked on and learned about being consistent. When sailing offshore it is imported to have consistent boat handling, that is what I thought about and worked on throughout the training and racing. I also learned a ton about changing gears and keeping the boat going in varying conditions.
The Transatlantic race was fantastic; any chance you get to sail across an ocean will be a great experience. The first time I crossed an ocean it was on my families 34 foot cruiser and it took us 25 days, on the Vanquish it took us 11 1/2 days.
Benny,