John
Hayward |
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John started sailing when he was 15, taking lessons in Marina Del Ray. While in the Navy, he joined the San Diego Navy Sailing Club and received extensive training and experience there. In college, also in San Diego, he bought a Columbia 22 and sailed, raced and cruised it extensively in Southern California. During this time he also crewed on several race boats. After college, he moved to Northern California and brought his Columbia with him, cruising the Bay in it for several years. He sold the Columbia and used the money as part of the downpayment for their first house. This ended up being an almost 30-year hiatus. When he could afford another sailboat, he decided he would rather
use his spare time flying because his weekend range was about 1,500
miles flying vs. about 30 miles sailing. When he retired in 2006,
he decided he was no longer 'in a hurry' and bought the Valiant 40.
He also started crewing on race boats again to help re-establish his
sailing skills. Soon
thereafter, he decided he wanted to do the SHTP. He had a schedule
conflict for the 2007 Longpac, so self-qualified with a singlehanded
sail down to Santa Cruz Island. This was his first time offshore overnight
alone and it only reinforced his desire to do the SHTP. His wife joined
him there and they spent a month or so checking out the various anchorages
on Santa Cruz Island (great, by the way!). He then brought the boat
back up the coast. He did the 2008 Transpac and had a terrific time
over and back, both singlehanded. He learned a lot and, although he
hadn't planned to seriously compete, this didn't last long. | |||||||