Racing

J/105 Double Handed Team Wins Coveted Venona Trophy Photos by Rick Bannerot/OntheFlyPhoto.net Henry Sesselberg’s J/105 Ubuntu (Cape Elizabeth, ME), a double handed entry in Edgartown Yacht Club’s ’Round the Island Race (‘RTI), managed to sail away with the coveted Venona Trophy in the Edgartown Race Weekend, sailed June 20 – 22 in the waters off Martha’s Vineyard, MA. The ’RTI, an annual circumnavigation of Martha’s Vineyard that is one of America’s oldest distance races, realized its 87th running on…

By Paul Earl, Organizing Committee   Jubilee Yacht Club in Beverly, MA hosted the 2024 Quantum Snipe Nationals on June 25 – 29. There were forty-four boats racing in the Heinzerling Series and eight in the Wells Series, with sailors from ten states and Canada participating. Eight races over four days were held in mostly light and shifty wind from all directions.     Meeting the challenge with superb consistency across all races for a total of…

Carina makes history, Summer Storm takes Gibbs Hill By Kate Somers, RisingT The 53rd Newport Bermuda Race officially came to a close the evening of June 29, with winners and award recipients honored at the Prize Giving Ceremony at the Pier 6 Complex on Front Street in Hamilton, Bermuda. The ceremony capped off nearly two weeks of festivities in both Rhode Island and Bermuda surrounding the storied sailing race. This year’s Newport Bermuda Race was as exciting and challenging…

By Bill Robinson, ECYC Commodore Essex Corinthian Yacht Club (ECYC) hosted the 2nd Annual Eastern Connecticut Women’s Invitational Regatta on Sunday, May 19 in Essex.  Sailed in Ideal 18s offered up for charter by ECYC and neighboring Essex Yacht Club, ten crews representing eight yacht clubs battled it out in classic Connecticut River spring conditions. Shifty winds and an ever-present ebb tide challenged the locals and visitors alike, with virtually every boat scoring a top 3 finish…

It’s not often you run into two guys in their early twenties who have already racked up some serious performance credentials in the sharp-elbowed world of professional offshore solo sailing. German sailors Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink are two such characters. I spoke with them at Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard during the Newport stop of The Atlantic Cup.     Coop: Guys, congratulations on your third-place finish in Leg 1. You must be pretty happy with that……

The International Yacht and Athletic Club (IYAC) hosted its second annual Rhody Regatta on Saturday, June 1, and Matt Brooks’ (Freemont, CA/Jamestown, RI) 1929 Sparkman & Stephens yawl Dorade stole the show. Not only was the 52-foot classic yacht visually striking by virtue of her sleek lines drawn by Olin Stephens, but she also appeared to be “always in the right place” despite a variety of often-fickle conditions. Sailing to win its five-boat Class 3, Dorade also claimed overall victory when scored collectively with the…

The 15th Annual Robie Pierce Regatta ran from May 30 to June 2, 2024 at the American Yacht Club in Rye, NY, co-hosted by the Larchmont Yacht Club. Seventeen boats hit the starting line for the Robie Pierce One-Design Regatta (the Open) and four boats raced in Thursday’s Women’s Invitational.   It was skipper Eric Rose (Bennington, VT) along with crew Dalina Delfing (New York, NY) and able-bodied sailor Richard Jaffe (NY, NY) who won the 3-day…

By Kate Somers, risingT     The 77th annual Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race took place the weekend of May 24 – 26, challenging sailors with light winds and testing their patience and strategy. Starting and finishing in Stamford, CT, the fleet of 76 boats embarked on the 186-nautical-mile journey around Block Island. Described by some as a race of “chutes and ladders,” with multiple restarts in light conditions, 52 boats successfully completed the race. David Greenstein’s Mills…

By Robyn Earley, 20HC Commodore   The Twenty Hundred Club (20HC) hosts seven races a year including island circumnavigations, destination races and unique formats that challenge sailors to exercise their navigation and strategic prowess on the water. Twenty Hundred Club was started in 1946 by a group of racers who felt that the true test of sailing was found outside traditional buoy-to-buoy races. The Bridge Fiasco race, inspired by San Francisco’s Three Bridge Fiasco, starts just south…

A strong return of past participants and an energetic influx of new teams (over 30%) says a lot about Edgartown Race Weekend on Martha’s Vineyard, coming up June 20-22. The event endears itself to veterans and newcomers alike with varied distance racing, including Saturday’s ’Round-the-Island Race (’RTI) – one of the oldest distance races in this country – and the preceding Thursday/Friday’s ’Round-the-Sound Races (’RTS), which are separately scored and a keen tune-up for Saturday, not to mention…