Bruce Schwab
Encyclopedia
Bruce Schwab is an American
sailor
and ocean racer. He circumnavigated
the globe twice on his Open 60 racing yacht OceanPlanet becoming the 240th and then the 254th solo sailor to do so. Schwab is the first American to officially complete the famous Vendée Globe
Race (2004–2005).
, Schwab moved to the Seattle area in 1965. He lived there until 1973 when he went on a three year cruise with his father and two younger brothers. While returning up the coast to Seattle in 1976, Bruce sailed with his father on the Gary Mull 42 (formerly "Improbable"). He graduated from Ballard High School in Seattle in 1978 and attended the University of Washington
for a short time.
Schwab became a professional sailor, yacht rigger
, and guitarist. He is famous for being the first American sailor to officially finish the Vendee Globe race in 2004-2005, a solo, nonstop, around the world yachting race sailing without assistance on Open 60 class boats, starting and finishing in Les Sables d'Olonne.
racing ultralight displacement sailboats, including crewing on the Moore 24
"Ruby". He went on to start working and racing in the San Francisco Bay
area in 1980. He began winning shorthanded races in 1983, including the Doublehanded Farallones, in which he eventually was an 8-time division winner. Bruce won his first singlehanded race, the Three Bridge Fiasco, in 1984 on "Svendle", a boat borrowed from his employer, Svend Svendsen of Svendsen's Boat Works. Schwab continued to win one design and PHRF races, with many wins and season championships, but had his most notable results in solo racing.
Schwab launched his highly-modified 1930 30 Square Meter sloop, "Rumbleseat" at the end of 1993 after resurrecting the vessel from 13 years of dry storage. With Rumbleseat Schwab won the Singlehanded Farallones in 1994, and then the Singlehanded Transpac in 1996. Rumbleseat was the "Queen" guest boat at the 1997 Pacific Sail Expo boat show, and was eventually sold to well-known Caribbean
sailor and cosmetic surgeon Dr. Robin Tattersall, OBE. In 1999, Schwab was awarded the US Sailing's Arthur B. Hanson rescue medal for participating in the rescue of a fellow racer who had capsized his boat in the Doublehanded Farallones Race.
Schwab was not able to secure a title sponsor to build his new Open 60 (which is how Open 60 Class boats are typically built). Instead he formed the Made in America Foundation to raise funds and gained further grass roots
support for the project. Schwab worked with designer Tom Wylie to develop the boat design which was built at Schooner Creek Boat Works in Portland, Oregon
and christened OceanPlanet.
When Schwab fell short of his objective of having OceanPlanet ready for the 2000 Vendee Globe, fellow American solo Racer Brad Van Liew
convinced Schwab to race the 2002-2003 Around Alone race (formerly the BOC Challenge and now the VELUX 5 Oceans Race
) upon the boats completion.
OceanPlanet had a narrow beam
, seawater ballast
, and an 80-foot unstayed and rotating carbon fiber mast. Schwab and Wylie discussed the factors that went into OceanPlanet's design in an interview with Latitude 38 Magazine in August 2001.
Schwab was the only American entered in the Around Alone Open 60 class, and also the only Class 1 entry without a title sponsor (Americans Brad Van Liew and Tim Kent raced in Class 2). In the first leg of the race (to Brixham
, England), OceanPlanet’s boom broke, requiring 1000 nautical miles (1,852 km) of sailing without the mainsail to finish the leg. Later in the race, on leg 3 (Cape Town
to New Zealand
), Schwab suffered a water ballast tank leak which flooded the boat. On leg 4, to Brazil
, the boat was hit by a giant breaking wave and the boom broke again. Schwab sailed around Cape Horn
without the mainsail, stopping in Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands long enough to repair the boom. Schwab made it to the finish of the Around Alone in Newport
, Rhode Island on May 5, 2003 becoming the 240th person to solo circumnavigate the globe.
to the high velocity unchecked waves
. On February 25, 2005, Schwab completed the Vendee Globe in 9th place becoming the first American to officially finish and the 254th person to solo circumnavigate the globe, with an official time of 109 days, 19 hours, 58 minutes and 57 seconds. This included a sustained average speed of 17.9 knots for over 6 hours, single-handed. Schwab maintained media
contact during the race participating in 29 interviews with Ronn Barr of Sports Byline Radio. During the race Schwab operated the OceanPlanet Foundation as an educational forum, as thousands of student
s and sailors followed the boat and expanded their knowledge of sailing.
Schwab is a performing guitarist and participates in bicycle racing. He is currently working on the development of lithium
iron phosphate batteries
, which represent a development in safe, high density energy storage in marine
and other applications.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
and ocean racer. He circumnavigated
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
the globe twice on his Open 60 racing yacht OceanPlanet becoming the 240th and then the 254th solo sailor to do so. Schwab is the first American to officially complete the famous Vendée Globe
Vendée Globe
The Vendée Globe is a round-the-world single-handed yacht race, sailed non-stop and without assistance. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years....
Race (2004–2005).
Early life
Born April 15, 1960 in Oxnard, CaliforniaOxnard, California
Oxnard is the 113th largest city in the United States, 19th largest city in California and largest city in Ventura County, California, by way of population. It is located at the western edge of the fertile Oxnard Plain, and is an important agricultural center, with its distinction as the...
, Schwab moved to the Seattle area in 1965. He lived there until 1973 when he went on a three year cruise with his father and two younger brothers. While returning up the coast to Seattle in 1976, Bruce sailed with his father on the Gary Mull 42 (formerly "Improbable"). He graduated from Ballard High School in Seattle in 1978 and attended the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
for a short time.
Schwab became a professional sailor, yacht rigger
Rigging
Rigging is the apparatus through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.-Terms and classifications:...
, and guitarist. He is famous for being the first American sailor to officially finish the Vendee Globe race in 2004-2005, a solo, nonstop, around the world yachting race sailing without assistance on Open 60 class boats, starting and finishing in Les Sables d'Olonne.
Early career
Starting in 1979, Schwab spent a year in Santa CruzSanta Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
racing ultralight displacement sailboats, including crewing on the Moore 24
Moore 24
The Moore 24 is a type of sailboat.Designed by Santa Cruz, California surfer/sailor, George Olson, it is one of the first ultralight displacement sailboats, or ULDBs entering production in 1972. This design, along with the Santa Cruz 27 and Olson 30 changed the world of performance sailing with...
"Ruby". He went on to start working and racing in the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
area in 1980. He began winning shorthanded races in 1983, including the Doublehanded Farallones, in which he eventually was an 8-time division winner. Bruce won his first singlehanded race, the Three Bridge Fiasco, in 1984 on "Svendle", a boat borrowed from his employer, Svend Svendsen of Svendsen's Boat Works. Schwab continued to win one design and PHRF races, with many wins and season championships, but had his most notable results in solo racing.
Schwab launched his highly-modified 1930 30 Square Meter sloop, "Rumbleseat" at the end of 1993 after resurrecting the vessel from 13 years of dry storage. With Rumbleseat Schwab won the Singlehanded Farallones in 1994, and then the Singlehanded Transpac in 1996. Rumbleseat was the "Queen" guest boat at the 1997 Pacific Sail Expo boat show, and was eventually sold to well-known Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
sailor and cosmetic surgeon Dr. Robin Tattersall, OBE. In 1999, Schwab was awarded the US Sailing's Arthur B. Hanson rescue medal for participating in the rescue of a fellow racer who had capsized his boat in the Doublehanded Farallones Race.
OceanPlanet
Working as a rigger at Svendsen's Boat Works allowed Schwab to learn many aspects of boat design, fabrication, painting, composites, and especially preparation for ocean racing. After having worked at Svendsen's for nearly 20 years, at the end of 1999 he left to form Rumbleseat Rigging. At that time he began efforts to design and build an Open 60 Class boat for the 2000 Vendee Globe Race — which no American had yet officially finished.Schwab was not able to secure a title sponsor to build his new Open 60 (which is how Open 60 Class boats are typically built). Instead he formed the Made in America Foundation to raise funds and gained further grass roots
Grass Roots
Grass Roots is an Australian television series produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation between 2000 and 2003.The series is set around the fictional Arcadia Waters Council near Sydney, and was primarily a satirical look at the machinations of local government...
support for the project. Schwab worked with designer Tom Wylie to develop the boat design which was built at Schooner Creek Boat Works in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
and christened OceanPlanet.
When Schwab fell short of his objective of having OceanPlanet ready for the 2000 Vendee Globe, fellow American solo Racer Brad Van Liew
Brad Van Liew
Brad Van Liew is a premier offshore sailor specializing in extreme performance events. He has competed in some of the world's toughest offshore ocean races. He is renowned for his single-handed sailing skills and experience. As a racing veteran he has completed both the 1998/99 Around Alone event...
convinced Schwab to race the 2002-2003 Around Alone race (formerly the BOC Challenge and now the VELUX 5 Oceans Race
VELUX 5 Oceans Race
The VELUX 5 OCEANS Race is a round-the-world single-handed yacht race, sailed in stages, managed by Clipper Ventures Plc since 2000. Its current name comes from its main sponsor, VELUX, a Danish company. Originally known as the BOC Challenge, for the title sponsor BOC Gases, the first edition was...
) upon the boats completion.
OceanPlanet had a narrow beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
, seawater ballast
Sailing ballast
Ballast is used in sailboats to provide moment to resist the lateral forces on the sail. Insufficiently ballasted boats will tend to tip, or heel, excessively in high winds. Too much heel may result in the boat capsizing. If a sailing vessel should need to voyage without cargo then ballast of...
, and an 80-foot unstayed and rotating carbon fiber mast. Schwab and Wylie discussed the factors that went into OceanPlanet's design in an interview with Latitude 38 Magazine in August 2001.
Schwab was the only American entered in the Around Alone Open 60 class, and also the only Class 1 entry without a title sponsor (Americans Brad Van Liew and Tim Kent raced in Class 2). In the first leg of the race (to Brixham
Brixham
Brixham is a small fishing town and civil parish in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. Brixham is at the southern end of Torbay, across the bay from Torquay, and is a fishing port. Fishing and tourism are its major industries. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of...
, England), OceanPlanet’s boom broke, requiring 1000 nautical miles (1,852 km) of sailing without the mainsail to finish the leg. Later in the race, on leg 3 (Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
), Schwab suffered a water ballast tank leak which flooded the boat. On leg 4, to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, the boat was hit by a giant breaking wave and the boom broke again. Schwab sailed around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
without the mainsail, stopping in Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands long enough to repair the boom. Schwab made it to the finish of the Around Alone in Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
, Rhode Island on May 5, 2003 becoming the 240th person to solo circumnavigate the globe.
The Vendee Globe
After completing the Around Alone race, Schwab set out to modify his Open 60 racing yacht to prepare for the nonstop Vendee Globe race in 2004-2005, bringing her up to the technical standards of the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA). The race, starting in Les Sables D'olonne, France, required the sailors to race through the "Roaring Forties" and "Furious Fifties" latitudes. Dangers faced ranged from of hitting an icebergIceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
to the high velocity unchecked waves
WAVES
The WAVES were a World War II-era division of the U.S. Navy that consisted entirely of women. The name of this group is an acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" ; the word "emergency" implied that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of the war and...
. On February 25, 2005, Schwab completed the Vendee Globe in 9th place becoming the first American to officially finish and the 254th person to solo circumnavigate the globe, with an official time of 109 days, 19 hours, 58 minutes and 57 seconds. This included a sustained average speed of 17.9 knots for over 6 hours, single-handed. Schwab maintained media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
contact during the race participating in 29 interviews with Ronn Barr of Sports Byline Radio. During the race Schwab operated the OceanPlanet Foundation as an educational forum, as thousands of student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s and sailors followed the boat and expanded their knowledge of sailing.
Current career
Prior to handing OceanPlanet to a new owner in September 2009, Schwab provided offshore training aboard the boat and other vessels, mentoring several crews of sailors to improve their ocean sailing skills. Schwab is currently based in Portland, Maine and runs "Bruce Schwab Rigging and Systems LLC".Schwab is a performing guitarist and participates in bicycle racing. He is currently working on the development of lithium
Lithium
Lithium is a soft, silver-white metal that belongs to the alkali metal group of chemical elements. It is represented by the symbol Li, and it has the atomic number 3. Under standard conditions it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly...
iron phosphate batteries
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
, which represent a development in safe, high density energy storage in marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
and other applications.