Hi there thanks for reading this.
Wailan Cui a sailing instructor at the www.freesailingschool.org will attempt to be the first woman to sail a beach cat from Florida to Grand Bahama singlehanded without a motor on June 18, 2024. She will hopefully join the ranks of only 6 intrepid adventure Beachcat sailors that have sailed from Florida to the Bahamas
1. **John Rousmaniere (1985)**: 16-foot Hobie Cat from Fort Lauderdale to Bimini.
2. **Mike Worrell (1997)**: 21-foot Supercat from Fort Lauderdale to Bimini.
3. **Randy Smyth (2012)**: 17-foot Nacra from Islamorada to Bimini.
4. **Riley Dulik (2018)**: Hobie 18 from West Palm Beach to Grand Bahama Island.
5. **Matt Rutherford (2023)**: 19-foot Nacra from Miami to Bimini.
6. **Emma Garschagen (2023)**: Hobie 18 from Miami to Bimini.
I, Christian Patrick the founder of the Free Sailing School will sail alongside her in my own Beachcat only as a safety boat in case she needs a rescue. I taught her everything I learned from my numerous Gulfstream Crossings and my 2022 Ultimate Florida Challenge attempt. Here’s a link if you want to read about it https://watertribe.com/Magazine/Y2022/M06/UltimateFloridaChallenge2022.aspx
This is a call out to any other beach cat sailors that want to join us! Or help, we could use a bigger chase boat for instance, dehydrated food, Drysuits, the list of gear we need to gather is enormous. Please call, text or email if you want to join this awesome excursion in your own beach cat or borrow one of ours or if you have a better chase boat or want to contribute other resources or money. We need some help sewing repairs to our two sails also.
Cheers,
Christian
347 eight o 6 45 eighteen
First woman to sail a beach cat from Florida to Grand Bahama!
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- Rank: Lubber
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Posted: Jun 07, 2024 - 07:39 PM
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- Rank: Mate
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Posted: Jun 08, 2024 - 05:09 PM
Very Cool...Good Luck on your adventure. Is there anything Randy Smyth hasn't done on Catamaran?? Guy is amazing!!
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Pete
2001 NACRA 450 SOLD
2000 NACRA 500 TOTAL LOSS
2004 NACRA INTER 20 SOLD
2016 NACRA 500 Sport
DeLand, FL
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Posted: Jun 20, 2024 - 04:59 AM
Wow, it is incredible! Randy Smyth is a true catamaran legend. There is nothing he cannot accomplish on those boats! Good luck on your travels! -
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Posted: Aug 19, 2024 - 06:16 AM
Wow, you're amazing. This is the bravest and strongest woman I have ever met. Deserves all of our respect. -
- Rank: Chief
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Posted: Aug 22, 2024 - 05:36 PM
Well?
How did she do?
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Sheet In!
Bob
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Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
(Way) Past Commodore of Prindle Fleet 14
Arizona, USA
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Posted: Aug 30, 2024 - 12:04 PM
Your description is a little exaggerated. There’s probably hundreds of cat sailors that have done that sail. Especially in the 80s-90s. There’s even a YouTube couple that did it on a busted H16 a few years ago. It’s not something that’s documented to the point you can casually google a list of people that have done it. Back in the day H16s would even race from Florida to Cuba. The guy that runs the pirate ship in St Augustine sailed a H18 all the way through the BVIs in the 80s. Doing the crossing to the Bahamas was about a warm up. On a good day you make it by lunch.
Edited by tamumpower1 on Aug 30, 2024 - 01:04 PM.
