Racing

Editor’s note: In mid-March, four sailors from Connecticut and Rhode Island traveled to the Principality of Monaco to compete in the Tropheé Virginie Hériot, an all-women’s regatta hosted by the Yacht Club de Monaco and sailed in J/70s. The event celebrates Virginie Hériot (1890-1932), who was known as ‘Madame de la Mer.’ She is the first woman to win an Olympic Sailing gold medal, as part of a mostly male 8 Metre team at the 1928 Amsterdam…

NYYC Annual Regatta to Unveil New Tricks for 171st Edition By Stuart Streuli, New York Yacht Club Director of Communications For more than four decades, Ken Read has been turning good boats into national and world champions. So, when the New York Yacht Club wanted to take a fresh look at its regattas, including North America’s oldest annual sailing competition, it knew where to turn. As with optimizing a sailboat, Read’s answer is equal parts innovation and refinement….

For 2025, Edgartown Race Weekend will say goodbye to its two-day, ’Round-the-Sound Races of recent years and hello to a fresh new focus on its centerpiece ’Round-the-Island Race (’RTI), which will be 88 years old when it begins on Saturday, June 21. Although it’s one of yacht racing’s oldest distance events, the 55-mile circumnavigation of Martha’s Vineyard is anything but staid, thanks to host Edgartown Yacht Club (EYC). Lively shoreside parties and an early morning start with a…

My first Marion Bermuda Race By Anne Kolker     Having asked many sailors if they would be my crew for a Marion Bermuda Race, I was often told that they were uncomfortable to lose sight of land. My reply has always been that I am much more uncomfortable to be along a shoreline in the fog. Of course, I have lots of electronic equipment to help me know my position and to find other boats or…

361nm international classic starts July 6 By Vicki Staveacre Returning to this year’s Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race is Jesse Terry’s Abigail, a wooden 39-foot ketch designed by John Alden and built by Seth Persson in 1956, right after Finisterre, which won the Newport Bermuda Race three times. Jesse bought Abigail nine years ago in Maine. “She was built in the neighboring town to where I grew up in Connecticut, so it felt like I was bringing…

Our friends at the New England Multihull Association (NEMA) are pleased to announce the 2025 Corsair Nationals – Buzzards Bay Multihull Regatta, to be held July 25-27 in Marion, MA. “This regatta will be hosted again by the Beverly Yacht Club, which hosted our 2023 event very capably,” said NEMA Commodore Andy Houlding. “Corsair Marine is our prime sponsor and has committed to a four-year Corsair Nationals Series. In 2026, the Nationals will move to the West Coast, followed…

Event organizers of Charleston Race Week at Patriots Point are excited to announce a new launch and storage solution for 2025, made possible by the generous support of the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA). The north end of Union Pier Terminal, located on the Charleston peninsula, will be available for participants, providing gated storage space free of charge during the event. This new location, just south of the Charleston Maritime Center, offers a secure and convenient option…

Our friends at Sea Cliff Yacht Club in Sea Cliff, NY have announced exciting initiatives for this year’s Around Long Island Regatta (ALIR), which starts July 24 in New York Harbor.   “For the first time in the race’s history, two courses will be offered—the traditional 207-mile ALIR course, and now the 250-mile Around the Islands course,” said Event Chair Shana Spanier-Cininski. “This will allow the most intrepid of the fleet the opportunity to circumnavigate both Long…

A reluctant frostbiter at first, the author learned the sport is a winter-long training camp for both body and mind. Story & photos by Blaine Davis     It’s November, and the boatyard is alive with activity. Boats are being hauled out and power washed while the low hiss of a blowtorch punctuates the air. In the back lot, yard workers shout to each other as they maneuver a keelboat into its winter parking spot. My boat,…

Registration is now open for the 40th biennial Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race, which will leave Marblehead Harbor on Sunday, July 6, 2025. First started in 1905, it is the oldest ocean race in North America. The 361-nautical mile race is sponsored by the Boston Yacht Club and the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron.   A World Sailing Category 2 event, the race is open to all yachts meeting the Offshore Safety Regulations (OSR) requirements published in…