Author: Barby MacGowan

It’s not the Newport Bermuda Race, but a great alternative for competitive sailors who want an adventurous offshore experience in June. Edgartown Race Weekend, scheduled for June 20-22, includes a Thursday and Friday of ‘Round-the-Sound (‘RTS) racing followed on Saturday by the centerpiece ‘Round-the-Island (‘RTI) Race, a circumnavigation of Martha’s Vineyard that is one of yacht racing’s oldest (87 this year) and most venerable distance races. “At approximately 55 miles, our race is simpler, with no technical rigamarole…

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…

Challenge XII and Columbia Become Two-Time World Champions After participating in a morning parade around Newport Harbor that was punctuated by cannon salutes from yacht clubs and other prime waterfront viewing spots, ten historic 12 Metres moved on to Rhode Island Sound for the final race of the 12 Metre World Championship on Saturday, August 6.     To be named the World Champions at the end of the day, Jack LeFort’s Challenge XII (KA-10; Winter Park, FL/Jamestown, RI) had…

Winners Named in Five Classes, Fundraising Extended!     All types of boats comprised the fleet of 37 entries sailing in the first-ever Rhody Regatta, which was combined with the International Yacht and Athletic Club (IYAC) Newport Cup on July 1. The event, an 18-mile race around Conanicut (Jamestown) Island, raised more than $15,000 for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank through team donations and will keep its fundraising link live through the month of July, should anyone else wish to make…

Adds Second ORC Class, Third “Bagheera” Class in PHRF Division, New Courses The Ida Lewis Yacht Club has refined its modifications announced earlier this year for the 2023 edition of the Ida Lewis Distance Race presented by Bluenose Yacht Sales. Scheduled for Friday, August 18 through Saturday, August 19, the race will now host a second class in ORC Division to make ORC 1 and ORC 2, while a third class – named Bagheera – will be added to the existing Aloha and Coronet classes for monohulls sailing in the…

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…

Good Decisions Yield Winners in Four Classes Fully expecting light and variable breezes overnight, forty-three sailing teams started the 2022 Ida Lewis Distance Race presented by Bluenose Yacht Sales on Friday, August 19 and returned throughout the day Saturday, August 20 to complete the event’s 17th edition. The wind conditions wound up ranging from 8-10 knots at the start to high teens and 20s out near Block Island to nearly nothing at points near the finish, making…

Recent boating accidents on Narragansett Bay, both fatal and near fatal, have prompted local boating enthusiasts to sound the alarm for boating safety. The non-profit organization Better Bay Alliance was formed in January 2020 after racing sailor Sandra G. Tartaglino was struck and killed by a powerboat while helming a catamaran in the New England 100 Regatta. In August of this year, a 30-foot sailboat competing in the Aloha Cup was hit from behind by a larger powerboat and…

Doublehanded Sailors Ken Read/Suzy Leech Win Coveted Venona Trophy   Sailing doublehanded on the Jeanneau Sunfast 3300 Alchemist, Rhode Islanders Ken Read (Portsmouth) and Suzy Leech (Jamestown) collected a boatload of trophies for their ‘Round-the-Island (‘RTI) Race performance at the annual Edgartown Race Weekend, hosted by Edgartown Yacht Club in Edgartown, MA on July 22-24. The most impressive piece of silverware – the prestigious Venona Trophy, which dates back to the origins of the race in 1938 – validated…

The Ida Lewis Yacht Club in Newport, RI has teamed with the Narragansett Bay Yachting Association (NBYA) to announce a new trophy for a “Narragansett Bay Middle Distance Champion” in 2021. The trophy, made of pre-preg carbon fiber and gold-plated brass, will be presented to the PHRF skipper/team with the best overall combined performance in the Ida Lewis Distance Race IN BAY race (Saturday, August 21) and NBYA’s Inaugural ‘Round the Bay Regatta (Saturday, July 24). The Ida Lewis Distance…