HOW FAR WOULD YOU TRAVEL TO DO THE BAJA HA-HA? In years past, we've had people sail from as far away as Ecuador, Alaska, and Hawaii just to do the Baja Ha-Ha.
But we may have a record this year, as Andy Kurtz, a vet of the 2023 Ha-Ha with his classic Columbia 57 Angelique, reports he'll be coming from all the way across the Pacific for the Ha-Ha.
“The Ha-Ha is beyond fun,” he wrote recently, “so I will be back again this year, all the way from Japan. I would continue further west, but the Ha-Ha is just too much fun to miss.”
It's good Kurtz is coming back because he's the guardian of the floating island used in the Kids Diving Olympics off the back of Profligate at Bahia Santa Maria. If he didn't come back with it, the Ha-Ha would have to drop a couple of hundred to get a replacement.
Does the Ha-Ha have lasting benefits? It does for some, such as Rosie Frank, who is hoping to do the Ha-Ha with Kurtz this year.
I was sitting at Le Select in St. Barth during this year's Bucket when I saw the Poobah and Dona de Mallorca's names painted on a mural on the wall. It made me think, 'I can't believe how fast time flies. Has it really been eight years since I did my first Baja Ha-Ha in 2016?'
As I sipped my beer, I began to reflect on all the places I've sailed since then. And how right Dona de Mallorca was after the 2016 awards ceremonies when she told me that, having done the Ha-Ha, I would get many other chances to sail.
“She was right. Thanks to people like the Poobah, de Mallorca, and Assistant Poobah Patsy Verhoeven giving me encouragement and captains like Andy Kurtz giving me chances to sail and learn, I've now sailed over 10,000 offshore miles doing deliveries. I've also branched out into yacht photography.”
Has the Ha-Ha propelled you into greater sailing adventures? If so, we'd like to hear about it.
Not to come across as a broken record, but the Ha-Ha is the 750-mile cruisers' rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, with eight big social events and R&R stops at fun and funky Turtle Bay and surreal Bahia Santa Maria.
Ha-Ha XXX — can this really be number 30? — starts November 4 from San Diego.
Registration for the Ha-Ha begins at noon on May 9. No matter if you are a skipper or crew, we're hoping to be sailing south with you in November.
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