A Well-Deserved Medal

January 26, 2021March 27, 2012 by Phyllis

26' Vertue "Sumara" in front of glacier in Svalbard — Alasdair on “Sumara” at Svalbard in 2002

Last spring I wrote a post about our friend Alasdair, who at the time was planning a trip on his 26-foot Vertue sloop Sumara to Jan Mayen to climb Beerenberg. Well, he and his crew, along with another small sailboat and crew, pulled off the trip with aplomb!

For their achievement, Alasdair and Tim, the skipper of Thembi, have been awarded the prestigious Tilman Medal from the RCC. The medal, in memory of Bill Tilman, is awarded from time to time in recognition of an outstanding voyage to the high latitudes, often including a climbing component. We extend our heartiest congratulations to Alasdair. Very well-deserved.

To get a feeling for the trip, check out these YouTube videos:

Sailing on Sumara

Climbing Beerenberg

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Phyllis has sailed over 40,000 offshore miles with John on their McCurdy & Rhodes 56, Morgan's Cloud, most of it in the high latitudes, and has crossed the Atlantic three times. As a woman who came to sailing as an adult, she brings a fresh perspective to cruising, which has helped her communicate what they do in an approachable way, first in yachting magazines and, for the last 12 years, as co-editor/publisher of AAC.