"Battleship" Bill Gately has written in with the latest on Fruition -- thanks for the update, Bill!
"After 26 years, in October, 2008 Fruition left Hingham, MA
towards Hampton, VA to participate in the Caribbean 1500 Rally. She
left after replacing all standing rigging, a good thing since the
trip to Hampton and much of the race to Tortola was in heavy winds (near to
moderate gale). She sailed exceptionally well, heavily reefed and
mostly underwater, at 179 degrees with 7.2 knots to weather directly
into the strong SE trades for 8 days. She was probably the fastest
boat in the fleet but wuz robbed by participants who failed to follow the race
committee's course instructions to avoid a potential hurricane. One
cannot protest in a "Rally"!
In 2009 Fruition sailed to Annapolis, MD and then, in
2010, to her new home in Venice, Florida where she sits at the Venice
Yacht Club. In 2013 she is started racing again, this time in the
local fleet."
