Sorry, late to the party here!
Some of you may know John and Amanda Neal - Mahina Tiare is their HR 46. We did a leg with them from
Tahiti to Rarotonga - Amanda was the Rigger on the Maiden and she regaled us with many a story - then by happenstance the Maiden came to Los Angeles last year so our Club (Del Rey Yacht Club) organized a welcoming committee of boats and a party the afternoon they arrived. We had a chance to meet all of the crew - including Tracy's daughter who was with them. They were absolutely wonderful and we had a great time hearing their stories.
They were on our Visitor
dock for several weeks and our hospitality team set up space for them to give tours (with a donation to their charities)
sold Maiden kit and seeing the
boat and the set up was quite interesting! If you get a chance I would highly recommend it! We had seen the movie and marveled at the story and our club sponsored a presentation by Tracy and we got to hear much more than the movie could cover. She is a tremendous speaker and if you get a chance to see her don't miss it. We did a Q&A at the end, and if you have seen the movie you will know that one of the top sports writers was very much against them - literally betting a large sum for them to not even finish the first leg! Well I asked her if she ever got to meet with him - and perhaps serve some crow...She said they have become wonderful friends, it was a great turning point for him and for sport in the UK.
Funny thing, they were supposed to sail to
Brazil and we gave them a sendoff - but
weather turned them around and they stayed at the club for another few weeks before amending their plans to go to the
Caribbean I think.
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