No Easy Task: Record Set from San Francisco to Long Beach
If endurance record runs like the one tackled yesterday by Bob Russell and John Rogers from San Francisco to Long Beach, Calif., in Russell’s 51-foot Outerlimits Powerboats catamaran were uncomplicated and stress-free, surely we’d see a lot more attempts being made.
Nic Ashby, John Rogers, Jimmy Lee Cook and Bob Russell (left to right) celebrate after completing the record run from San Francisco to Long Beach, Calif., in Russell’s 51-foot Outerlimits catamaran. Photo by Mike Quindazzi
But they’re not. Ask Russell, Stuart Hayim (the owner of the 42-foot Marine Technology Inc. catamaran who set the Round Long Island (New York) record in August of 2012), Bob Barnhart (who broke the Key West, Fla., to Cancun, Mexico, record several years back in his diesel-powered 50-foot Nor-Tech V-bottom), or the four-man crew that established the Lucas Oil Ocean Cup – Golden Gate to Queen Mary record two months ago in a diesel-powered 48-foot APISA Sport Yachts V-bottom.
In fact, try any other competitor who has ever attempted a record run of any significant distance. It ain’t easy—the story usually has to do with what went wrong or didn’t go wrong. Still, even if a record isn’t broken, the sense of accomplishment is rewarding.
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