The sun’s shining, and rum punches are being poured on the pontoons of Grenada’s Port Louis Marina. Boats are nursing their wounds – chafed lines, torn sails, worn shackles – and crews celebrating the finish of their transatlantic voyage. Among the gleaming new catamarans – the Lagoons, Outremers and Fontaine Pajots – is a smaller, older multihull, moored bows-to. In the cockpit is a copy of PBO’s November 2022 issue, and on a table a trophy that says, ‘Fastest Multihull’. It’s Ciel Bleu.
“Come on board!” says Jon, enthusiastically. With him is partner, Dawn, nephew Stephen and fellow Essex sailor Shaun from their small club on the River Roach. “We love PBO. We’ve learned a lot from reading your magazine!”
Ciel Bleu’s voyage from Paglesham to the Canaries, Cape Verde and then Grenada, has been a success. However, Jon’s proudest achievement is not the 1st-place trophy but the fact Dawn stuck it out to the end. She never intended to leave Gran Canaria, let alone Cape Verde, but fate transpired:
“I thought, it’s silly to have this opportunity laid out in front of me and not take it,” she says. “When we got to the Canaries one of our crew couldn’t make
