Alex Whitworth - honoured for his achievements
New York, USA: The Cruising Club of America (CCA) will award its prestigious 2010 Blue Water Medal to Australian Alex Whitworth for a circumnavigation of the world via the Northwest Passage west to east.
The first Blue Water Medal was awarded in 1923 and it is given “for a most meritorious example of seamanship, the recipient to be selected from among the amateurs of all the nations.” The award will be presented on March four, 2011 by CCA Commodore Sheila McCurdy during the CCA’s annual Awards Dinner at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan.
Whitworth, a member of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, was born in an air raid shelter on the island of Malta in Europe in 1942. He spent most of his childhood near Manchester, England, or wherever his father Alexander was stationed at the time.
A Royal Navy pilot, his father taught Whitworth to sail at a young age. At nineteen, he also joined the Royal Navy and became an Observer on carrier-based Sea Vixen aircraft until 1965.
In 1966, Whitworth immigrated to Australia and joined Adastra Aerial Surveys where he worked both full and part time until 1975. In 197four, he received a B.A. (Honors) in Political Science from Melbourne University and in 1982 an M.B.A. from the University of New South Wales.
In 1993, Whitworth and his partner Hilary Yerbury purchased the sailboat Berrimilla, a Brolga 33 designed by Australian Peter Joubert. Since the purchase, Whitworth has circumnavigated the world twice with Berrimilla.
The first circumnavigation began in 200four when Whitworth and fellow Australian Peter Crozier sailed to the U.K. via Cape Horn. On the way, Berrimilla was in frequent contact with Astronaut Leroy Chiao, Commander of the International Space Station (ISS) and for much of the time, Chiao was Whitworth’s nearest neighbor when the ISS orbit crossed her track.
When Whitworth arrived in the U.K. with Crozier, they competed in the 2005 Rolex Fastnet Race, finishing 11th overall and second in the double-handed division. After the Fastnet, Berrimilla returned to Sydney (Australia) via the Cape of Good Hope, arriving just in time to sail in the 2005 Rolex Sydney-Hobart race.
The second circumnavigation began in 2008, when as a result of Berrimilla’s encounter with the ISS, Whitworth was invited by NASA scientists to rendezvous at Beechy Island in the Canadian Arctic. The plan was to view the solar eclipse on August 1, 2008, so Whitworth set out with Crozier on April 10, 2008, sailing directly from Sydney to the Aleutians (Alaska) and then through the Northwest Passage.
Due to dangerous ice conditions, Berrimilla bypassed Beechey Island and arrived in Falmouth (U.K.) in September.
That winter, the boat was stored in the U.K. and then competed in the 2009 Rolex Fastnet Race. After the race, Berrimilla sailed home to Australia via the Cape of Good Hope and the Kerguelen Islands and arrived in Sydney on March 2010 having completed her second circumnavigation of the globe.
In addition to presenting its Blue Water Medal, the CCA will present the following 2010 Awards:
The Rod Stephens Trophy for Outstanding Seamanship awarded to Alessandro Di Benedetto (Rome, Italy) for his resourcefulness when jury rigging Findomestic, a 21-foot (6.5-meter) monohull, near the rounding of Cape Horn in 2009. Alessandro is known for his single-handed open ocean voyages and has been commended for the many records he has surpassed.
Far Horizons Award awarded to William E. Cook for a series of commendable voyages to the far north of the globe including cruises to Greenland and Baffin Island (Canada). Cook has been adventuring since the 1970s and his last cruise was to Greenland in 2010 on his sailboat Resolution, a 56-foot (17-meter) Bristol Sloop.
At home, on the East Coast, Cook runs Cook Yacht Design which designs racing and cruising sailboats ranging from 10 - 85 feet.
The Richard S. Nye Trophy awarded to Robert A. VanBlaricom who has brought distinction to the Cruising Club of America by meritorious service, outstanding seamanship, and outstanding performance in long distance cruising.
VanBlaircom has been a member of the Club since 196four and has served on many committees over the years. He has been awarded the John Parkinson Memorial Trophy twice for transoceanic passages; one was in a 39-foot (11.9-meter) steel-hulled sloop named Seabear, which he built with a partner.
The American sailor has been awarded the CCA’s Charles H. Vilas Literary Prize, and the Royal Cruising Club Trophy. He has been Rear Commodore of the San Francisco Station of the CCA. As an author, he wrote and self-published his sailing autobiography, Time and Tide.
About the Cruising Club of America
The Cruising Club of America is dedicated to offshore cruising, voyaging and the “adventurous use of the sea” through efforts to improve seamanship, the design of seaworthy yachts, safe yachting procedures and environmental awareness.
Now in its 90th year, the Club has 11 stations throughout the U.S., Canada and Bermuda, with approximately 1200 members who are qualified by their experience in offshore passage making.
In even-numbered years, the CCA organizes the Newport to Bermuda Race in conjunction with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Through the club’s Bonnell Cove Foundation, grants are made to 501 C3 organizations for safety at sea and environment of the sea projects.
For more information on the CCA, go to http://www.cruisingclub.org
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