Blue Water Medal
The prestigious Blue Water Medal was inaugurated by the Cruising Club of America in 1923 to:
reward meritorious seamanship and adventure upon the sea displayed by amateur sailors of all nationalities, that might otherwise go unrecognized.
Blue Water Medallists have included such luminaries of the sailing world as Rod Stephens, Eric and Susan Hiscock, Sir Francis Chichester, Eric Tabarly, Pete Goss, Bernard Moitessier, and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston..
The Medal itself was designed by Arthur Sturgis Hildebrand, a member of the Cruising Club of America, who was one of the crew of the yacht Leiv Eiriksson, lost in the Arctic with all hands in September of 1923
Kenichi Horie, Japan’s best known ocean sailor, has been named winner of the 2022 Blue Water Medal by the Cruising Club of America (CCA) for a lifetime of ocean-crossing achievement.
Ginger and Peter Niemann have been named winner of the 2021 Blue Water Medal by the Cruising Club of America for two sailing circumnavigations that took them to the high latitudes, north and south. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the second trip around the world included rigorous non-stop passages while returning home to Washington state.
Cruising Club of America Names Reeves as 2020 Medal Winner
Six-time solo circumnavigator to receive the club’s most prestigious medal.
Bruce Halabisky and Tiffany Loney are the recipients of the CCA’s 2018 Blue Water Medal, awarded for their 11-year circumnavigation in Vixen, a 1952 John Atkin designed wood gaff-rigged cutter, with their two daughters, born during the cruise, as crew.
Webb Chiles grew up far from the ocean in a non-sailing family. Fortunately for the sailing world, he was an avid reader and the likes of Slocum and Conrad lead him to purchase at age twenty-five his first boat, an Excaliber 26. Less than ten years later he made his first circumnavigation in an engineless Ericson 37, with only two stops, becoming the first American to sail alone around Cape Horn and setting a then world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation in a mono-hull, breaking Sir Francis Chichester’s time by more than three weeks.
CCA selected Michael J. Johnson (Santa Fe, N.M.) to receive the Club’s Blue Water Medal for 2016, awarded for his extensive cruising for over 40 years, covering more than 125,000 nautical miles and including an east-to-west circumnavigation below the five great southern capes. The Board of Governors established this award to recognize “a meritorious example of seamanship.” The medal will be presented at the CCA’s annual Awards Dinner in New York on March 3, 2017.
For building and skippering the Irish yacht Northabout which completed the first east to west polar circumnavigation in October 2005. The four-year voyage began in Westport, county Mayo, in June 2001 and took them through the north west Passage to Alaska and western Canada where they spent the next two years cruising. In 2004 they sailed to Russia, wintering the yacht at Khatanga, Siberia, when stopped by the ice.
In 2005 they completed the Northeast passage voyage to Ireland via the Norwegian coast and the Caledonian Canal..
For a series of three voyages in his 53' trimaran, Great American II, to equal or beat the record passages of famous 19th century clipper ships, including San Francisco to Boston (1993), New York to Melbourne (2001) and Hong Kong to New York (2003). His successful attempts were notable for the thoroughness of his preparations, the skilled but conservative way he sailed his fast vessel and the educational component he was able to generate for over 250,000 children who tracked his progress.