At first sight

OK, I need to amend. I didn't actually fall in love with the boat at first sight because the first time I saw her was in pictures that Tom took to document her current condition - so there were dozens of close-ups of rotting wood, moldy walls and stained cushions. If one is trying to make a good first impression, zooming in on the wrinkles is not the way to go. After seeing the pictures I was not expecting much.

However, some time passed between the photos and the first real visit (She is docked almost 2 hours away so I needed to plan some time to go there.) During that intermission I began to study her history, which turned out to be interesting indeed. That is when the love began to grow. It all started with a father and son preparing for the 1976 OSTAR race.

Below is a brief history of the race from wikipedia...

The Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race was conceived by Francis Chichester and Herbert "Blondie" Hasler in 1956. The whole idea of a single-handed ocean yacht race race was a revolutionary concept at the time, as the idea was thought to be extremely impractical; but this was especially true given the adverse conditions of their proposed route — a westward crossing of the north Atlantic Ocean, against the prevailing winds.

Chichester and Hasler sought sponsorship for a race, but by 1959, no-one had been prepared to back the race; the two men eventually decided that they would race for a half-crown bet if all else failed. Finally, though, The Observer newspaper provided sponsorship, and in 1960, under the management of the Royal Western Yacht Club of England, the Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race, or OSTAR, was on.

The first run of the race was a great success; since then, it has run every four years, and has become firmly established as one of the major events on the yachting calendar. The name of the event has changed several times due to changed in main sponsor; it has been known as the CSTAR, Europe 1 STAR, and the Europe 1 New Man STAR; the latest edition was run as The Transat. Throughout its history, however, the essentials of the race have remained the same. It has also become known as a testbed for new innovations in yacht racing; many new ideas started out in the STAR.