Susanne Huber-Curphey

Susanne Huber-Curphey has been awarded the OCC's Barton Cup having completed La Longue Route for the second time. This 33,532 mile solo voyage lasted 270 days.

Susanne Huber-Curphey Is Awarded the Barton Cup. The Ocean Cruising Club has awarded single-handed sailor Susanne Huber-Curphey the Barton Cup for 2025, its premiere award.

This is not the first time the OCC has recognised Susanne’s achievements. Susanne received the 2017 Barton Cup for her single-handed west-to-east transit of the Northwest Passage in her 39ft self-built cutter Nehaj. In 2019 this was followed by the OCC Seamanship Award recognising her successful completion of La Longue Route 2018/19, In BLAUWASSERBRIEFS (Blue Water Letters) in Flying Fish 2022/2 she described her 15,000-mile voyage from the Netherlands into the South Atlantic to round – but not stop at – Tristan da Cunha, after which she returned via St Helena and the Azores. While still at sea she was elected to Honorary Membership of the OCC.

Susanne Huber-Curphey is clearly one of those people who finds her greatest happiness at sea. Susanne has now completed La Longue Route for a second time. After leaving the Azores on 15th July 2024 she sailed eastabout south of the Five Great Capes to reach New Zealand on 18th April 2025, 270 days and 33,532 miles later. It was a particularly difficult passage, bedevilled by storms and calms, and of the six starters only three completed the challenge non-stop.

Particularly interesting is her account of deploying and recovering her Jordan Series Drogue, which she had to use seven times. For the full story see Flying Fish 2025. This is the outstanding voyage of the past two years and more than meets the Award’s requirement of ‘an exceptional or challenging voyage made by an OCC member’.