Racing

New Double Handed Race Ends Long Island Sound Sailing Season By Buttons Padin Reflecting the increasing popularity of shorthanded sailboat racing, Larchmont Yacht Club and the Storm Trysail Club collaborated to create The Bitter Ender, a Long Island Sound season-closing doublehanded regatta to be sailed mid-October. The inaugural Bitter Ender was raced Friday night, October 13, starting and finishing off Larchmont Harbor. Unique to The Bitter Ender is its starting “window” from 1500 to 1800, whereby each…

The thrill of big boat racing for college sailors By Kate Somers Photos by Stephen R Cloutier The goal of the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta presented by ShopRite of Carteret is to give a unique keelboat experience to college sailors from around the world. From dinghy sailors – who may have never stepped on anything but a 420 – to experienced offshore teams with their own boats, the IOR is a rare opportunity to compete in a big…

Beginning with the next edition, April 18 -21, 2024, the regatta unlike any other has a new partnership and a new name. “Charleston Race Week at Patriots Point is the new event name, and it’s an exciting update as we advance the largest keelboat regatta in the Western Hemisphere,” said Regatta Chair Randy Draftz. “We will be on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Yorktown for the entirety of the event, with expanded use of the space only an…

By Courtney Moore, CMB Creative Group Photos by Nick Woviotis, © Skylla Filmworks     The 74th Dyer Dhow Derby will be held Saturday, October 21, from 10am to 5pm at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT. Defending their title from 2022 will be the Murphy family (three generations: Frank, Patrick, and Lily) representing the Mystic River Mudhead Sailing Association. Past winners include many other Mudheads such as Carl Fast, Woody Bergendahl and Nate Fast.   Mystic Seaport…

By Marion Bartholomew     In August of 1870, the first America’s Cup race in United States waters took place in the Sandy Hook Bay area of New York and New Jersey. Hosted by the New York Yacht Club, eighteen schooners were registered to race. The New York Yacht Club’s schooner Magic won the 40-mile race. In August of 2023, the 19th Annual Ms. Race took place in the same Sandy Hook Bay with a record thirteen…

By Sam Crichton     The sixth Clagett/Oakcliff Match Race Clinegatta for sailors with disabilitieswas hosted by Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club over the weekend of August 25-27, with twelve sailors from across the U.S. traveling to Oyster Bay, NY to participate. Friday’s clinic had great conditions for the sailors, who were coached by The Daves: America’s Cup helmsman Dave Dellenbaugh (Easton, CT) and five-time U.S. Match Racing Champion Dave Perry (Southport, CT). The two coaches worked with the…

By Barbara “Basia” Karpinska The Vineyard Race 2023, Doublehanded Division   And just like that summer has gone, and autumn arrived ushered by the Vineyard Race. Organized by Stamford Yacht Club, the Vineyard is an offshore racing classic dating back to 1932 and held annually over Labor Day weekend except for three years during World War II. The first race had 23 starters with five finishers. Fittingly, 89 boats participated in this year’s 89th edition. Over the…

It was as good as it gets for 47 teams sailing in the Ida Lewis Yacht Club’s 18th Ida Lewis Distance Race presented by Bluenose Yacht Sales. Race organizers had promised to reinforce the race’s reputation as a challenging 24-hour overnight competition, and that they did by developing a brand-new selection of courses to fit all sorts of weather scenarios and incorporate as many sailing angles as possible. After a two-hour postponement due to a severe weather forecast, the race…

Sixty-seven 14-foot Sunfish crossed the starting line in Southold Bay at 11:30am Saturday, July 15 to begin the 52nd World’s Longest Sunfish Race, Around Shelter Island, NY. Sailors came from as far away as Florida to compete in this bucket-list event hosted by Southold Yacht Club, with sixty-two boats successfully completing this marathon sail. Peter Beardsley of Menantic Yacht Club on Shelter Island won the race, completing the course in 4 hours, 41 minutes and 57 seconds….

Young Scot is victorious in his first distance race…and first doublehanded race! By Fergus Wilson Editor’s note: The 46th Around Long Island Regatta, hosted by the Sea Cliff Yacht Club in Sea Cliff, NY in July, was first run in 1977. The race covers a 205 nautical mile course combining ocean, harbor and sound racing. Open to all sailboats 24 feet and larger, the race is designed for sailors at all levels, running in as many as…