A frequently far-flung Ocean Navigator correspondent was awarded the 2000 Blue Water Medal by the Cruising Club of America. Eric Forsyth, a native of Britain and resident of Brookhaven, N.Y., was honored for his voyage around South America in 1999 in his Westsail 42 Fiona. The vessel carried Forsyth and his crew from the homeport of Patchogue, N.Y., across the Caribbean, through the Canal to the Galapagos; southwest to Easter Island and Puerto Montt, Chile; on to Port Lockroy in Antarctica, before heading across the Scotia Sea, northeast to South Africa and back up the Atlantic. The 21,784-mile voyage – an account of which was published in these pages (Jan./Feb. 2000, Issue No. 103) – was completed in 10 months. Forsyth is pictured here in front of Table Rock off Cape Town. An account of his adventures across the Atlantic to Svalbard in 2000 will appear in the next issue.
The Blue Water Medal, which recognizes “a most meritorious example of seamanship, the recipient to be selected among amateurs of all nations,” has been awarded annually by the CCA since 1923; recent honorees included Eric and Susan Hiscock, Sir Francis Chichester, Eric Tabarly, and Hal Roth.
