Racing

By the time this issue hits the newsstands, the sailors and yachts in The Ocean Race will be bearing down on Newport, RI, and the finish of Leg 4. For the third consecutive edition of the globe-girdling race, Newport is the lone North American stopover port. The previous stopovers in 2015 and 2018 attracted more than 247,000 visitors to the City-by-the-Sea. Will you be part of it this year? Leg 4 of The Ocean Race, a 5,550-nautical…

The New England Multihull Association (NEMA) and the Beverly Yacht Club (BYC) in Marion, MA will host the 2023 Corsair Nationals and Rendezvous July 28-30, 2023. Racing is open to all Corsair and Farrier Trimarans and any design with five or more entrants will compete as a one-design class. This event is held in conjunction with the Buzzards Bay Multihull Regatta, which is open to all NEMA-rated multihulls and will be scored separately. Racing will be held…

Edgartown Yacht Club (EYC) in Edgartown, MA will celebrate a full century of competitive sailing this year with its 100thAnnual Regatta on July 12-16. The regatta first took place in 1924 and was run from a rented cottage on the waterfront at the Harborside Inn. More than 100 vessels – mainly small gaff-rigged Catboats – took part in a festival of sail that delighted participants and spectators alike. Over the decades since, the event has met with continued success, morphing…

11th Hour Racing Team in The Ocean Race By Sean McNeill The Ocean Race bills Leg 3 from Cape Town, South Africa, to Itajaí, Brazil (underway as this issue went to press) as a monstrous undertaking. At 12,750 nautical miles it is the longest leg in the 50-year history of the race, surpassing by 450 nautical miles Leg 5 from China to Brazil in the 2008-’09 race. Racing in the deep latitudes of the Roaring Forties and…

The town of Mount Pleasant and City of Charleston, SC are rightfully proud of the grand prix regatta that has become a fixture of the region. Charleston Race Week has brought a huge economic boost to both municipalities for more than a quarter of a century, and the regatta unlike any other has a new Race Village aboard the USS Yorktown, the historic World War II era aircraft carrier berthed at Patriots Point. Longtime Race Week organizer…

MELGES: The Wizard of Zenda, a film about the life of sailing legend Buddy Melges, will have its Connecticut premiere at the CT Spring Boat Show. Hosted at Essex Yacht Club, airings will be Saturday 29th, 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm. Shows are limited to 70 people so advance tickets are very important. Purchase your tickets HERE. Wizard of Zenda takes the viewer on a wild ride through the career of one of the greatest sailors in…

Our friends at the Connecticut River Frostbite Squadron based in Essex, CT, better known as FBYC (Frostbite Yacht Club) are kicking off their 90th season of racing on the Connecticut River! “All sailors that are willing to brave a little cold weather are invited to join us for a great season of racing,” says FBYC Secretary Evan Cooper. “Currently we have four active fleets of Etchells, Lasers, Ideal 18s, and JY15s.” “The club hosts a Spring Series (March…

A U.S. Naval Academy grad, a U.S. Marine and a U.S. Patriot Sailing Ambassador, this intrepid sailor is taking on his biggest challenge in the Mini Transat.     What is your sailing background, and how did that lead to Classe Mini 6.50 and the Mini Transat? Originally from the suburbs of Philadelphia, I grew up sailing Optis on the Delaware River at the Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia. In high school, I spent the summers racing 420s…

By Dave Hemenway Photos by Robert Deaves     Fifty-eight sailors from sixteen countries contested the 2023 Finn Gold Cup, hosted by the Coconut Grove Sailing Club in Miami, FL January 27 – 31. The Finn is a popular, performance oriented 14’ 9” single sail dinghy that was developed for the 1952 Olympics by Scandinavian designer Rickard Sarby, based on an International Canoe design. The original wooden boats were made by home builders in the Scandinavian countries….

By Phil Dickey, MD   It seemed like every sailor on the docks at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club had been on a boat where the A2 kite had blown up during the first day of the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race. Though there are no official tallies of the number of torn sails, Jack Orr, North Sails expert in Bridgeport, CT, said, “Our shop was full of them.” Jack points out that his folks repaired kites from…