With his recent build of a state-of-the-art, Generation 3 design Class 40, experienced offshore solo sailor Joe Harris is making a strong bid to pick up where he left off on his successful Open 50 campaign and renew his quest to race around the world solo.  Joe took delivery of an Akilaria RC2 Class 40 from the design office of Marc Lombard in Spring 2011 and campaigned it in Europe last summer before shipping it back to his home base in Newport in September.  The plan is to race the boat hard in 2012 to work out all the bugs associated with a new boat and have the boat in top condition for 2013.  In the summer of 2013, Joe will sail the boat solo to France to complete his qualifying sail for the Global Ocean Race ("GOR") which will start in September.  The GOR will race around the world with 4 stops-  Cape Town, South Africa; Wellington, New Zealand; Punta del Este, Uruguay; Charleston, South Carolina and back to France.   

With an active racing calendar for 2012 and a long list of improvements to the boat, the only piece of the puzzle missing is a title sponsor, so we are hard at work on that and hope to have some supporting corporate sponsors in place for our debut in New England this summer.   

Current Campaign Schedule:

2011
Normandy Channel Race
 Marblehead-Halifax Race

2012
Atlantic Cup - Start: May 11, Charleston, S.C.
Newport-Bermuda Race - Start: June 15, Newport, R.I.
Offshore 160 - Start: July 13, Newport, R.I.
Ida Lewis Distance Race - Start: August 17, Newport, R.I.
Sail for Pride - Start: September 9, Newport, R.I.
Whalers Race - Start: September 15, Padanarum, MA

BEYOND
2013-14 - Global Solo Race


PAST CAMPAIGN RESULTS

2004 - 2nd Place: Transat >
3,500 miles, Plymouth, England to Boston, MA, 16 days - single-handed

2005 - 1st in Division: Transat Jacques Vabre >
4,700 miles, LeHavre, France to Salvadore, Brazil, 17 days - double-handed

2006 - 1st in Class: Newport-Bermuda Race >

2007 - 1st Overall and Single-leg Record Setter: Bermuda 1-2 >