2001

“We Did It!”

April 14, 2001

OCEAN PLANET Lives!

Well folks, I can hardly believe it myself. But the first American Open 60 in years is almost ready for Pacific Sail Expo.

We had a great trip down the coast. There was a good variety of conditions to test the boat in, although we were using a borrowed delivery mainsail. But that didn’t stop us from hitting over 27kts with our small chute up in some big breeze. What a kick. I can tell already that OCEAN PLANET is something special!

Surfing Ocean Planet home during the April delivery.We have an important message to send with OCEAN PLANET. People DO care about being involved and interacting with our Oceans. This is a strong statement made by the people that have by supported us. The very fact that this Open 60 was built almost entirely from donations says a lot! It also says that there is a lot of pent-up support for a bigger American involvement in the world of serious ocean racing.

Our Team has worked incredibly hard to make it to Sail Expo. I cannot say thanks enough to the fantastic crew at Schooner Creek Works. What a great bunch of guys Steve Rander has there. They have created one of the most fantastic boats you will ever see, in an impossibly small amount of time, at mimimal cost. I was there for the final few weeks, and I can tell you it was something to see.

This may sound strange, but now a new battle begins. I pulled every string and card I have to finish OCEAN PLANET and get her here for the show. The Made in America Foundation is now flat broke (me too). In order to race this great machine, we must raise, all over again, as much money as it took to build her! Sail Expo is our best chance to show what we have created, and generate the sponsorship and donations to get us out racing.

I hope to see you at the show, and thank you for your support! The image above is shot of one very tired but happy sailor bringing Ocean Planet home. To the right is a sneak shot of our Nav station. Notice the Navtreks navigation software running on the display?

Bruce Schwab Skipper
OCEAN PLANET
Globe Challenges
http://www.oceanplanet.org/
510-562-4466 office
510-508-9491 cell