Stan Honey: My Ultimate Sailing moment

Photographer Sharon Green, in her newly released coffee table book 30 Years of Ultimate Sailing, sought out the leaders in the sport to share their Ultimate Sailing moments. Here Stan Honey provides his…

Sailing has many facets – you can compete in prams as a kid, on a college sailing team, in high performance trapeze dinghies, keelboats and offshore racers… Very few sports have the diversity sailing does, allowing an individual to compete on the best teams in the world throughout life.

Looking back on 50 years of sailing, the richest part hasn’t been the events I’ve completed or the results, but the opportunity to be a part of a team. Many of us have had the terrific experience of competing on teams in school, but sailing allows you to have that same rich team sport experience throughout your entire life. And offshore sailing teams are particularly close, as you depend on one another not only for your results, but also for your safety.

In these past five decades of sailing, I’ve established dozens of relationships that are as close as what many folks develop only with a college roommate or childhood best friend. For me, the ’aha moment’ of ultimate sailing is reflecting on the opportunities I’ve had to be a part of the crews of Pyewacket, Playstation/Cheyenne, ABN AMRO One, and Groupama 3: and the close friendships forged with those guys.

Click here for information about Sharon Green’s 30 Years of Ultimate Sailing.