| Master and Captain Alexander Penalta United States Power Squadron Basic Boating and Navigation United States Merchant Marine Officer - Licensed United States Coast Guard Master & Captain USCG 25GT Master with Sailing Endorsement Blue Water Sailing School Graduate Certifications American Sailing Association ASA (101) Basic Keelboat ASA (103) Basic Coastal Cruising ASA (104) Bareboat Chartering ASA (114) Cruising Catamaran American Red Cross Basic Canoeing Operational Experience includes Schooner - Catamaran - Sloop - Hobie - Sunfish - Inflatables - Canoes - Surfboards - Jet Skis - Waverunners - Trimaran V-Hull & Catamaran Power Boats - Dive Boats - Ski Boats |
| "OLD BLUE" 2004 & 2005 Pompano Beach and Boca Raton Holiday Parade Class Winner |
| MEMBERSHIPS (LPYRC) Lighthouse Point Yacht & Racquet Club (ASA) American Sailing Association Hillsboro Inlet Sailing Club |
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"DEFENDER" |
"SECOND WIND" Hunter Marine Sailing Vessel |
| WATERSPORTS Sailing |
| Captain Alexander Penalta at the Helm 2008 Hunter Sloop 41 foot Atlantic Ocean - Florida Keys |
| WATERSPORTS Power |
"BANANA CAT" Hobie Cat 16 |
Hunter Sailboats have only been around for a few decades, but the history behind their
design can be traced all the way back to the 19th century.
Warren and John Luhrs, the original designers of the Hunter Sailboat, had shipbuilding in
their blood. Their Great-Grandfather, Henry Luhrs, migrated from Germany to the United
States during the latter part of the 1800's and became employed with a company that
outfitted trading ships. In time, he open his own business and gained a reputation as a
solid businessman whose company produced high quality boats.
The family remained in the shipbuilding business. Warren and John's father made a
name for himself building fishing boats and family cruisers. When they were old enough,
the two young men joined the family business and learned all the ins and outs of creating
and manufacturing boats of various sizes.
When the family business was sold in the mid 1960's, the two brothers decided to remain
in the industry and looked around for a small company where they could take everything
they had learned and come up with their own unique designs. After acquiring a New
Jersey based company in 1969, they set to work perfecting their designs. The result of
their efforts was the first Hunter Sailboat in 1973.
The original design was a twenty-five foot long sloop design. Throughout the remainder
of the decade, Warren Luhrs became more involved in boat racing, and began to make
refinements to the design, adding such elements as water-ballast systems, arches, and
B&R rigs. By the time the decade ended, the Hunter Sailboat had gained quite a
reputation as an excellent choice for both professional and amateur boat racers.
Today, the Hunter Sailboat is still in production and as popular as ever. Diversified into a
number of models these days, Hunter Sailboats range from the original twenty-five foot
design to over forty feet. Most designs allow for at least a four-person capacity, with a
few models accommodating up to eight persons. Luxury models allow for private cabins
rather than communal sleeping quarters and will often offer all the comforts of home.
Hunter Sailboats these days often come with full-sized showers and toilets. The galley
kitchens are outfitted with anything needed to prepare a meal, even down to a microwave
oven. The refrigeration system is equal to any home kitchen and there is plenty of room
for storage in all sections of the boat.
Many other features that were manually operated thirty years ago are now fully
automated. As an example, the head sail can now be unfurled with the push of a button.
Hauling up the anchor is no problem either; today's models feature an electronic winch
that easily raises and lowers the anchor. Manual over-rides are usually included, in the
unlikely event of some sort of system failure, which is a very rare occurrence with the
Hunter Sailboat. Two-way radios are still available with most models and also include a
hand crank that can be used in the event of a power failure.
A number of clubs for Hunter Sailboat owners are in operation, with many of the clubs
maintaining websites and message boards.
design can be traced all the way back to the 19th century.
Warren and John Luhrs, the original designers of the Hunter Sailboat, had shipbuilding in
their blood. Their Great-Grandfather, Henry Luhrs, migrated from Germany to the United
States during the latter part of the 1800's and became employed with a company that
outfitted trading ships. In time, he open his own business and gained a reputation as a
solid businessman whose company produced high quality boats.
The family remained in the shipbuilding business. Warren and John's father made a
name for himself building fishing boats and family cruisers. When they were old enough,
the two young men joined the family business and learned all the ins and outs of creating
and manufacturing boats of various sizes.
When the family business was sold in the mid 1960's, the two brothers decided to remain
in the industry and looked around for a small company where they could take everything
they had learned and come up with their own unique designs. After acquiring a New
Jersey based company in 1969, they set to work perfecting their designs. The result of
their efforts was the first Hunter Sailboat in 1973.
The original design was a twenty-five foot long sloop design. Throughout the remainder
of the decade, Warren Luhrs became more involved in boat racing, and began to make
refinements to the design, adding such elements as water-ballast systems, arches, and
B&R rigs. By the time the decade ended, the Hunter Sailboat had gained quite a
reputation as an excellent choice for both professional and amateur boat racers.
Today, the Hunter Sailboat is still in production and as popular as ever. Diversified into a
number of models these days, Hunter Sailboats range from the original twenty-five foot
design to over forty feet. Most designs allow for at least a four-person capacity, with a
few models accommodating up to eight persons. Luxury models allow for private cabins
rather than communal sleeping quarters and will often offer all the comforts of home.
Hunter Sailboats these days often come with full-sized showers and toilets. The galley
kitchens are outfitted with anything needed to prepare a meal, even down to a microwave
oven. The refrigeration system is equal to any home kitchen and there is plenty of room
for storage in all sections of the boat.
Many other features that were manually operated thirty years ago are now fully
automated. As an example, the head sail can now be unfurled with the push of a button.
Hauling up the anchor is no problem either; today's models feature an electronic winch
that easily raises and lowers the anchor. Manual over-rides are usually included, in the
unlikely event of some sort of system failure, which is a very rare occurrence with the
Hunter Sailboat. Two-way radios are still available with most models and also include a
hand crank that can be used in the event of a power failure.
A number of clubs for Hunter Sailboat owners are in operation, with many of the clubs
maintaining websites and message boards.
A Short History of Sailing --
Two thirds of the World’s surface is covered by water. The majority of all people on this planet
lives by or near the coast – and has done so for millennia. The striving of man to explore and
extend his horizon has always been constrained by the sea and the limitations of those vessels
that would carry people further and further offshore. This article aims to investigate the history of
sailing – which, in fact, is the history of people who pushed the world’s horizon.
For thousands of years, wind was the only source of energy that would allow man to pass long
distances over seas such as the Mediterranean or the Atlantic Ocean. Distances that proved to
be too long to be overcome by the use of muscle power and paddles only. This limitation
naturally led different civilizations to develop different ways to exploit this only sufficient source of
energy.
Starting from the most primitive vessels – little more than trees with a piece of cloth on top, a
construction still used by many fishermen in developing countries – people quickly improved
their skills in navigation and the construction of more sophisticated boats. Phoenician started
early to master the Mediterranean, only challenged and eventually defeated by the uprising
power of Rome.
Boats as the key to Mediterranean civilizations --
As most highly developed civilizations concentrated around the Mediterranean, this naturally
favored a strong interest in navigation and all disciplines concerned with it – astronomy,
meteorology, shipbuilding and even basic forms of oceanography. Antiquity boosted mankind’s
skills in passing long distances over the seas.
Much of the knowledge of the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans and Greek disappeared and was
forgotten during the Middle Ages. Viking longboats used mostly the power of men at oars and
primitive square-sails. The shape of square-sail rigs quickly became the most common rig type
in European nations.
The Arabs, however, developed their own characteristic, triangular sail as a more efficient
solution. Arabic dhows could sail upwind very well and proved to be more flexible and navigable
than European ships equipped with square-sails.
Junk, slightly different: Chinese sail boats --
Completely different were concepts even further away, in China. The Chinese lugsail is more
often referred to as a junk rig, was rigged to a short mast and based on long bamboo battens.
The construction of junks was likely to be the most efficient and sophisticated of its days, being
cheap and flexible and at the same time easy to navigate. This allowed junks to sail with a
relatively small crew on board.
A much simpler construction was created on the Polynesian islands of the Pacific Ocean: the
proa consists of a hollowed-out tree trunk that would hold people and goods, and another piece
of wood was attached as a stabilizing outrigger; a simple, but robust construction that was cheap
and easily made. It is probably for the same reasons that proas are still widely used all over the
Pacific Ocean.
As the leading seafaring nations changed over the course of centuries – Venetian, Spaniards,
Portuguese, Arabs, Chinese, Dutch – the materials remained essentially the same. Wood was
cut into shape or tied together and only very rarely other materials were used for the
construction of the main body of ships. This should change with the up rise of Britain after the
defeat of the Spanish Armada.
New materials, new challenges --
With the industrial revolution, new materials for the construction of sailing vessels became
available. Also, distances became longer as the British reached out over the oceans built an
Empire spanning the globe. The new needs and opportunities led to a boost in innovative
designs and developments.
However, it was still wind that would carry most goods – now over thousands of miles of canals
that cut Britain into navigable slices. The Thames barges are prime examples for innovative
designs – easy to navigate even by as few as two men, these little sailing boats were altered
from a ground plan into manifold shapes and varieties. This way, they could meet local
requirements.
Offshore, the large sailing ships dominated the oceans. Among the most legendary cargo-
carrying ships of that period were windjammers and clipper ships. The latter ones were most
likely called that way as they allowed trade companies to clip short the time for individual
passages, as they were designed to speed up the traffic between the British mother island and
its outposts in India, Australia or the Americas.
Sailing goes yachting - from cargo to aristocrats --
A little earlier than that, in the 16th and 17th century, the oldest indications for a new trend
appear: sailing out of pleasure rather than transportation, exploration or warfare. In the
Netherlands, by than a trading empire that spun the World’s seas, Europe’s largest fleet
maintained a flourishing economy. The rising prosperity of Dutch merchants and their strong
orientation towards maritime activities most likely caused them to start sailing as a method of
entertainment.
Small sailboats that were light and easy to navigate were called “Jaght”. The modern English
word “Yacht” is derived from that and the first Dutch yacht arrived in England in 1660 as a gift to
King Charles I. The design stimulated a whole new approach to yachting in Britain – a rather
sportive than practical one. As soon as in 1661, two more yachts had been built: “Catherine”, a
second yacht to King Charles, and “Anne” for the King’s brother. With these two vessels, the
King and his brother raced between Greenwich and Gravesend and back along the Thames and
thereby, doing the first pleasure sailing race in history.
The first yacht club was founded in Ireland around 1720. It was called “The Water Club of Cork”,
and although the original organization disappeared in the late 18th century, it was re-founded as
“The Cork Yacht Club” in 1828. A few years earlier than that, in 1815, a club called “The Yacht
Club” was founded in England and re-named into “The Royal Yacht Club” in 1820, when the
Prince Regent – the club’s most distinguished member – became King George IV.
Golden Age of Yacht Clubs --
The club bought a clubhouse in Cowes in 1824 but changed its name again in 1833 into “The
Royal Yacht Squadron”. The first race of the club took place on the 10th of August 1826,
accompanied by fireworks on Cowes Parade the following evening. Ever since then, with the only
exceptions during the years of the World Wars, the Annual Cowes Week Regatta with fireworks
has been held in August.
In 1830, there were already three royal yachting clubs in the United Kingdom: “The Royal Yacht
Squadron”, “The Royal Cork Yacht Club” and “The Royal Thames Yacht Club”. In that year, the
first non-British club was formed in Sweden. New York started its first club in 1844.
Over the course of the 19th century, many other clubs followed, making yachting a sport for the
noble, the rich and powerful. In 1851, the schooner “America” visited England and attended a
race starting from Cowes and sailing around the Isle of Wight. It bet the best British yachts and
won the “Hundred Guinea Cup”, which was re-named into “America’s Cup” in honor of the ship.
The America’s Cup is considered to be the oldest trophy in the World of international sports.
The 20th Century and Sailing --
The first half of the 20th century was the peak age of yachting as a luxury sport for wealthy
people. It was probably also the peak of yacht design and the development of a particular
nautical style that is still unraveled by modern constructions. In the second half of the 20th
century, yachts once again underwent a dramatic revolution due to the use of new materials.
The use of plywood had a tremendous impact on boat designs and lead to the development of
dinghies that were lighter and still stronger than any sailing vessels before. This also meant that
the construction of yachting boats became easier and thereby, cheaper. This made the whole
sport more accessible and triggered a diversification of styles and shapes.
Dinghy sailing grew especially in the 1960ies. Almost every month, boat builders launched new
designs. Building boats at home became a passion to many people, and alongside with the big,
established yacht builders, more and more small firms arose and found their niches on the
growing market. With an increasing number of people being interested in sailing, the number of
clubs, races and cruises all over the World grew enormously, too.
The late 1960s saw the rise of glass fiber as an even more flexible and reliable boat-building
material. Carbon-based and other modern materials still lead to exciting new designs and
innovations in the construction of dinghy sailing boats up to today, setting new records in speed,
weight or reliability.
From elitist pleasure to sportive adventure --
Much in parallel to sailing, cruising developed from a practical thing – transportation of people
and cargo – into something people did as an exclusive form of pleasure. The origins of offshore
cruising date back to the early 19th century, when large ships had to be sailed by professional
crews and yachting in smaller vessels was just about to develop properly. By then, professionals
left coastal regions only if necessary, cruising offshore for the sole purpose of pleasure was
something new.
One of the pioneers of cruising in the modern sense was the British sailor Richard Tyrrell
McMullen, who sailed thousands of miles around the area of the British Isles in the second half
of the 19th century. He died on his yacht in 1891, at a time when he had already inspired
thousands of people to follow the calling from offshore. Other early cruisers included the London
barrister John Macgregor and the American Joshua Slocum, who succeeded as the first person
to do a single-handed circumnavigation of the globe.
In more recent times, the British couple Eric and Susan Hiscock made cruising tremendously
popular and well-known; they themselves did three circumnavigations between 1952 and 1976 in
a number of different yachts, that were all called “Wanderer”. A combination of race sailing and
cruising arose around the same time.
Peaking in popularity after thousands of years --
Cruiser racing proved to be exceptionally popular. Since these days, more and more
professionals compete for the most prestigious trophies, and only “private” cruiser races are
suitable for spare-time sailors from the club-level. This led to a forking between sailing as a
competitive sport and the traditional pleasure yachting.
Both areas remain to gain popularity from year to year. There are more professional,
competitive sailors than ever before and the sport attracts a lot of attention with major events
being followed by hundreds of thousands sailing enthusiasts all over the World. On the other
hand, sailing yourself for joy has never been easier or more affordable.
Despite of common stereotypes of sailing as being exclusive or a non-affordable luxury, today
more and more people discover their passion for this sport. Sailing communities in all countries
offer opportunities to get involved with the sport on any level of interest – from a completely
passive one by doing a cruise with a professional crew, to active sailing as a boat owner. Sailing
has never been more popular than it is today – and seems to go into a bright future!
Two thirds of the World’s surface is covered by water. The majority of all people on this planet
lives by or near the coast – and has done so for millennia. The striving of man to explore and
extend his horizon has always been constrained by the sea and the limitations of those vessels
that would carry people further and further offshore. This article aims to investigate the history of
sailing – which, in fact, is the history of people who pushed the world’s horizon.
For thousands of years, wind was the only source of energy that would allow man to pass long
distances over seas such as the Mediterranean or the Atlantic Ocean. Distances that proved to
be too long to be overcome by the use of muscle power and paddles only. This limitation
naturally led different civilizations to develop different ways to exploit this only sufficient source of
energy.
Starting from the most primitive vessels – little more than trees with a piece of cloth on top, a
construction still used by many fishermen in developing countries – people quickly improved
their skills in navigation and the construction of more sophisticated boats. Phoenician started
early to master the Mediterranean, only challenged and eventually defeated by the uprising
power of Rome.
Boats as the key to Mediterranean civilizations --
As most highly developed civilizations concentrated around the Mediterranean, this naturally
favored a strong interest in navigation and all disciplines concerned with it – astronomy,
meteorology, shipbuilding and even basic forms of oceanography. Antiquity boosted mankind’s
skills in passing long distances over the seas.
Much of the knowledge of the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans and Greek disappeared and was
forgotten during the Middle Ages. Viking longboats used mostly the power of men at oars and
primitive square-sails. The shape of square-sail rigs quickly became the most common rig type
in European nations.
The Arabs, however, developed their own characteristic, triangular sail as a more efficient
solution. Arabic dhows could sail upwind very well and proved to be more flexible and navigable
than European ships equipped with square-sails.
Junk, slightly different: Chinese sail boats --
Completely different were concepts even further away, in China. The Chinese lugsail is more
often referred to as a junk rig, was rigged to a short mast and based on long bamboo battens.
The construction of junks was likely to be the most efficient and sophisticated of its days, being
cheap and flexible and at the same time easy to navigate. This allowed junks to sail with a
relatively small crew on board.
A much simpler construction was created on the Polynesian islands of the Pacific Ocean: the
proa consists of a hollowed-out tree trunk that would hold people and goods, and another piece
of wood was attached as a stabilizing outrigger; a simple, but robust construction that was cheap
and easily made. It is probably for the same reasons that proas are still widely used all over the
Pacific Ocean.
As the leading seafaring nations changed over the course of centuries – Venetian, Spaniards,
Portuguese, Arabs, Chinese, Dutch – the materials remained essentially the same. Wood was
cut into shape or tied together and only very rarely other materials were used for the
construction of the main body of ships. This should change with the up rise of Britain after the
defeat of the Spanish Armada.
New materials, new challenges --
With the industrial revolution, new materials for the construction of sailing vessels became
available. Also, distances became longer as the British reached out over the oceans built an
Empire spanning the globe. The new needs and opportunities led to a boost in innovative
designs and developments.
However, it was still wind that would carry most goods – now over thousands of miles of canals
that cut Britain into navigable slices. The Thames barges are prime examples for innovative
designs – easy to navigate even by as few as two men, these little sailing boats were altered
from a ground plan into manifold shapes and varieties. This way, they could meet local
requirements.
Offshore, the large sailing ships dominated the oceans. Among the most legendary cargo-
carrying ships of that period were windjammers and clipper ships. The latter ones were most
likely called that way as they allowed trade companies to clip short the time for individual
passages, as they were designed to speed up the traffic between the British mother island and
its outposts in India, Australia or the Americas.
Sailing goes yachting - from cargo to aristocrats --
A little earlier than that, in the 16th and 17th century, the oldest indications for a new trend
appear: sailing out of pleasure rather than transportation, exploration or warfare. In the
Netherlands, by than a trading empire that spun the World’s seas, Europe’s largest fleet
maintained a flourishing economy. The rising prosperity of Dutch merchants and their strong
orientation towards maritime activities most likely caused them to start sailing as a method of
entertainment.
Small sailboats that were light and easy to navigate were called “Jaght”. The modern English
word “Yacht” is derived from that and the first Dutch yacht arrived in England in 1660 as a gift to
King Charles I. The design stimulated a whole new approach to yachting in Britain – a rather
sportive than practical one. As soon as in 1661, two more yachts had been built: “Catherine”, a
second yacht to King Charles, and “Anne” for the King’s brother. With these two vessels, the
King and his brother raced between Greenwich and Gravesend and back along the Thames and
thereby, doing the first pleasure sailing race in history.
The first yacht club was founded in Ireland around 1720. It was called “The Water Club of Cork”,
and although the original organization disappeared in the late 18th century, it was re-founded as
“The Cork Yacht Club” in 1828. A few years earlier than that, in 1815, a club called “The Yacht
Club” was founded in England and re-named into “The Royal Yacht Club” in 1820, when the
Prince Regent – the club’s most distinguished member – became King George IV.
Golden Age of Yacht Clubs --
The club bought a clubhouse in Cowes in 1824 but changed its name again in 1833 into “The
Royal Yacht Squadron”. The first race of the club took place on the 10th of August 1826,
accompanied by fireworks on Cowes Parade the following evening. Ever since then, with the only
exceptions during the years of the World Wars, the Annual Cowes Week Regatta with fireworks
has been held in August.
In 1830, there were already three royal yachting clubs in the United Kingdom: “The Royal Yacht
Squadron”, “The Royal Cork Yacht Club” and “The Royal Thames Yacht Club”. In that year, the
first non-British club was formed in Sweden. New York started its first club in 1844.
Over the course of the 19th century, many other clubs followed, making yachting a sport for the
noble, the rich and powerful. In 1851, the schooner “America” visited England and attended a
race starting from Cowes and sailing around the Isle of Wight. It bet the best British yachts and
won the “Hundred Guinea Cup”, which was re-named into “America’s Cup” in honor of the ship.
The America’s Cup is considered to be the oldest trophy in the World of international sports.
The 20th Century and Sailing --
The first half of the 20th century was the peak age of yachting as a luxury sport for wealthy
people. It was probably also the peak of yacht design and the development of a particular
nautical style that is still unraveled by modern constructions. In the second half of the 20th
century, yachts once again underwent a dramatic revolution due to the use of new materials.
The use of plywood had a tremendous impact on boat designs and lead to the development of
dinghies that were lighter and still stronger than any sailing vessels before. This also meant that
the construction of yachting boats became easier and thereby, cheaper. This made the whole
sport more accessible and triggered a diversification of styles and shapes.
Dinghy sailing grew especially in the 1960ies. Almost every month, boat builders launched new
designs. Building boats at home became a passion to many people, and alongside with the big,
established yacht builders, more and more small firms arose and found their niches on the
growing market. With an increasing number of people being interested in sailing, the number of
clubs, races and cruises all over the World grew enormously, too.
The late 1960s saw the rise of glass fiber as an even more flexible and reliable boat-building
material. Carbon-based and other modern materials still lead to exciting new designs and
innovations in the construction of dinghy sailing boats up to today, setting new records in speed,
weight or reliability.
From elitist pleasure to sportive adventure --
Much in parallel to sailing, cruising developed from a practical thing – transportation of people
and cargo – into something people did as an exclusive form of pleasure. The origins of offshore
cruising date back to the early 19th century, when large ships had to be sailed by professional
crews and yachting in smaller vessels was just about to develop properly. By then, professionals
left coastal regions only if necessary, cruising offshore for the sole purpose of pleasure was
something new.
One of the pioneers of cruising in the modern sense was the British sailor Richard Tyrrell
McMullen, who sailed thousands of miles around the area of the British Isles in the second half
of the 19th century. He died on his yacht in 1891, at a time when he had already inspired
thousands of people to follow the calling from offshore. Other early cruisers included the London
barrister John Macgregor and the American Joshua Slocum, who succeeded as the first person
to do a single-handed circumnavigation of the globe.
In more recent times, the British couple Eric and Susan Hiscock made cruising tremendously
popular and well-known; they themselves did three circumnavigations between 1952 and 1976 in
a number of different yachts, that were all called “Wanderer”. A combination of race sailing and
cruising arose around the same time.
Peaking in popularity after thousands of years --
Cruiser racing proved to be exceptionally popular. Since these days, more and more
professionals compete for the most prestigious trophies, and only “private” cruiser races are
suitable for spare-time sailors from the club-level. This led to a forking between sailing as a
competitive sport and the traditional pleasure yachting.
Both areas remain to gain popularity from year to year. There are more professional,
competitive sailors than ever before and the sport attracts a lot of attention with major events
being followed by hundreds of thousands sailing enthusiasts all over the World. On the other
hand, sailing yourself for joy has never been easier or more affordable.
Despite of common stereotypes of sailing as being exclusive or a non-affordable luxury, today
more and more people discover their passion for this sport. Sailing communities in all countries
offer opportunities to get involved with the sport on any level of interest – from a completely
passive one by doing a cruise with a professional crew, to active sailing as a boat owner. Sailing
has never been more popular than it is today – and seems to go into a bright future!
