Back in the Day

Here are some moments in sailing history stored in the Scuttlebutt archives…

2008- 5 years ago: Sailing World magazine announced the winners of its 25th annual Boat of the Year awards. The King 40 by Summit Yachts was the overall winner, while the winner in the Best One-Design category was the Melges 20.

2003- 10 years ago: In planning for the 2004 Olympics, there was controversy over whether a discard would be allowed in scoring the event. After ISAF president Paul Henderson was successful in eliminating the discard, the decision was later reversed. Said British double Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie, “This discard is very important as it gives sailors protection from incidents which may be out of their control.”

1998- 15 years ago: Nick Moloney became the first person to WINDSURF across the notorious Bass Strait from Victoria to Tasmania. Moloney, 30, made the 150 nautical mile journey in 22 hours. “I trained really hard for this but it turned out to be a lot tougher than I ever thought it was going to be to complete,” said Moloney, who afterward needed treatment for a severely swollen left hip and his hands, in particular three fingers that have lost a lot of sensation.