Racing

Publisher’s note: I’ve known my good friend Scott MacLeod since I was ten. We grew up at Norwalk Yacht Club in Norwalk, CT. Scott is a three-time collegiate All-American, a former member of the U.S. National Sailing Team, and an excellent team racer. He’s a senior level marketing executive who has created event properties and sold over $100 million in sponsorships across a broad range of sports including golf, tennis, sailing and adventure sports. It was pretty…

As Skipper of 11th Hour Racing Team, Charlie Enright’s goal to lift The Ocean Race Trophy comes with a mission to educate fans along the way on today’s environmental concerns and inspire them to do their part to benefit ocean health and our fragile planet. Born and raised in Bristol, RI, Charlie, 35, learned to sail at age 5 and was a member of the Brown University Sailing Team. Charlie had his first taste of offshore sailing in…

The Young American Sailing Academy (YASA), a western Long Island Sound-based non-profit organization created to provide opportunities and support for youth sailors, is seeking interested sailors to join the YASA sailing team and participate in a mixed double-handed offshore program. “The first step of this program is sailing the 2020 Newport Bermuda Race as mixed double-handed entries,” said YASA founder and President Peter Becker. “Do you have the passion and the skills to be part of a winning…

Consummate waterman and record breaking pro sailor, Nick Dana is a Newport, Rhode Island native and scion of the Newport Shipyard family. He’s been part of three Volvo Ocean Races: as shore crew with PUMA Ocean Racing in the 2008-‘09 edition, on-board reporter with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in 2011-‘12, and bowman/boat captain with Team Alvimedica in 2014-‘15. Nick’s a passionate surfer, and he managed to catch a few waves during some VOR stopovers. Closer to home,…

By Ken Read With another sailing season upon us, I feel excited and worried. I am excited for the high end of the sport… the IMOCA fleet, for example, as we have watched them push themselves, and each other, in new, cutting-edge ‘fliers’ across the Atlantic. The America’s Cup – these boats are going to be fast and furious and who knows what is going to happen with these crazy new machines. The Moth Worlds showed us…

The United States SailGP Team recently kicked off its 2020 SailGP campaign with the announcement of a new roster. As this issue went to press, the all-American, eight-man squad was preparing for their debut at Sydney SailGP, sailed February 28 & 29 in Sydney, Australia. The 2020 U.S. SailGP Team’s roster of America’s Cup athletes, world match racing champions and Tokyo 2020 Olympic hopefuls that includes Rome Kirby (age 30; Newport, RI), Taylor Canfield (30; USVI), Riley…

By Phillip Dickey, EYC Regatta Committee In order to promote ocean racing in the Essex Yacht Club (EYC) and in the eastern Long Island Sound region, a group of sailors from the regatta committee of the EYC created the EYC Ocean Racing Forum in 2019. We decided to build on the strength of EYC in ocean racing—five boats skippered by EYC sailors competed in the 2018 Newport Bermuda Race—to create a forum which would bring together experienced…

By Tom Darling In 1869, Princeton University’s football team travelled to New Brunswick, New Jersey to play the first intercollegiate football contest. One hundred and fifty years and eleven days later, the Princeton Club Sailing Team led a hardy group of post-season intercollegiate sailors in the debut of their own peculiar sporting event. Sailing 30-foot Shields keelboats in 30-degree temperatures and 25-knot winds on Oyster Bay’s West Harbor on November 16, the kids now called it “extreme…

By Dan Dickison Nothing can undermine credibility faster than an unsubstantiated claim. So, it’s good to know that the people behind the largest multiclass gathering in North America – Sperry Charleston Race Week – always make good on the tagline they’ve adopted for their event: “A regatta unlike any other.” In recent years, Race Week’s organizers have worked hard to cement their springtime event as a bucket-list fixture on the U.S. sailing scene. They’ve done this primarily…

With the start of the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada just over a year away, New York Yacht Club American Magic is currently testing, tuning and training at their winter base in Pensacola, FL. We caught up with Rob Ouellette, the American challenger’s COO.   WindCheck: Where did you grow up, and how old were you when you started sailing? Rob Ouellette: I grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts and really started sailing at summer camp when…