Passages, 9 May 1931

Schooner Days XV (15)

By C.H.J. Snider

As the author notes, Captain Maw's passage of "eight days nine hours from land to land" in the Gulnare is open to some doubt. The schooner Atlantic, optimistically stated as 11 days 16 hours and 22 minutes to the Scillies rather than the Lizard (in fact 12 days, four hours, 1 minute) held the record from 1905 until Éric Tabarly crossed in 1980 with a time of 10 days 5 hours 14 minutes in the Paul Ricard. Capt. Maw's passage "from land to land" was undoubtedly shorter (2,050 miles claimed, see the previous Schooner Days, #XIV compared to 2,880 miles for the Atlantic and Paul Ricard), but even so, stretches the limits of credibility...