Merfyn Owen (Owen Clarke Design) and his wife Ashley Perrin (Antarctic Ice Pilot) were awarded the 2023 Royal Cruising Club Trophy on Friday at the New York Yacht Club.
On Friday at the New York Yacht Club, Ashley Perrin and Merfyn Owen received the 2023 Royal Cruising Club Trophy from the Commodore of the CCA (Cruising Club of America). The trophy was awarded for “For their extended circumnavigation and excellent cruise of Newfoundland by way of Greenland and Labrador in Santana, a Capo 30.”
In 2019 the couple raced and then cruised Santana, their 30’ Carl Schumacher design from Maine to St Johns NL They returned early in the 2020 season sailing in fog and ice to northern Newfoundland, before crossing the Labrador Sea on an expedition to the west coast of Greenland.
Trapped by Covid ashore in Nuuk for two winters, Santana returned across a cold, icy, and grey Davis Strait to Labrador and south to north west Newfoundland. The last part of the circumnavigation was completed last year. This time a pleasant summer cruise down the Straits of Belle Isle and west along the remote southern coast of Newfoundland.
Merfyn Owen is a founding partner of the yacht design and naval architecture office Owen Clarke Design former professional skipper and a double Cape-Horner. Ashley Perrin is a CCA member, a professional boat captain and owner of Antarctic Ice Pilot, a company offering logistical, expedition leader, and ice pilot services to yachts visiting Antarctic and Arctic waters.
For more information on OC’s explorer work, go to: Explorer Yacht Design
To read about Santana’s journey in Voyages magazine, go to: CCA Voyages Magazine 2024
