Colorado SailorsLinda and Bill Schmidt of Westminster, Colorado, had a blast sailing the York River as they enjoyed their best amenity visiting Williamsburg. “This is the highlight of our trip. I love this boat,” Linda said as she ran a delicate helm after Bill helped deploy the red and blue spinnaker for downwind sailing. They mastered the art of upwind sailing while discussing issues that ranged from cell phone technology to the great outdoors.

CupAmerica’s Cup Victory

2013′ improbable win by Oracle Team USA was the biggest comeback in sports history as Oracle rebounded from an 8-1 deficit in the best-of-17 series to beat Emirates Team New Zealand 9-8 and keep the cup in this country. These high-tech monsters cost over $100 million each and are hardly the traditional sloop of America’s Cup yore. As their hulls picked up momentum, they rose out of the water onto hydrofoils to reach speeds approaching 50 mph, unheard of in sailing. One sailor died in July when the boat flipped in choppy seas.

Update: Five years later the Oracle went on display at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News. The boat came in numerous crates, but without instructions. The curators figured it out. 
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Hurricane Sandy (Colorado Sailors)

Then Seri Diamond of Valley Stream on Long Island took her family sailing in the warm winds of the York River. Her mother Fran responded to questions about the lingering effects of Hurricane Sandy. She and her husband took in four families comprising 27 people. And each family was packed into their own bedroom, and they wound up staying for weeks. Many people are still without power or livable space. Virginians recall Isabel ten years ago, but it was nothing like Sandy. One upshot is that you won’t see many children here named Isabel, or in metro New York named Sandy.

FastTennessee Sailors

Lyrene and John Fast found sailing on the York River quite different from rural Tennessee. She works as a farrier who trims hoofs of horses so they can run barefoot more safely and comfortably.

Lyrene is passionate that horses should not be shoed, because it cuts off the circulation in the legs and creates other problems that shorten their lives. Meanwhile the hoofs tend to work more freely on the ground for a better grip, which makes you wonder why they don’t run barefoot in the Kentucky Derby. (For more, visit barefoothorse.com.)

At home, they let their own horses run free in the pasture instead of staying in stalls.”You wouldn’t want to live in a six-by-six-foot area, would you?” she asked.

Let’s Go Sail with Colorado Sailors

Scroll down Rates and pick a day for a sailboat charter. Scroll down Reviews on Trip Advisor. Go back to the Home Page of Williamsburg Charter Sails.   

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