Author: Chris Szepessy

The holder of a 50-ton Captains license and an American Red Cross waterfront lifeguard with First Aid, CPR and AED certification, Liz Sistare is the newly minted Watercraft Operations Supervisor at Mystic Seaport Museum (MSM) in Mystic, Connecticut. “I grew up in southeastern Connecticut and went to East Lyme High School,” says Liz, “but didn’t grow up sailing or boating. I started sailing at 19 at college. UConn – Avery Point has a 1-credit Learn to Sail…

On a corner storefront in the Village of Mamaroneck, NY, about a block from where the Sheldrake River turns away from I-95, the exterior wall is wrapped with three horizontal blue stripes in paint and painter’s tape. The lowest, several feet above street level, is marked by red print on a white sign: Nor’easter, 4/16/2007. It’s the height the floodwaters reached during a rare spring storm that broke rainfall records throughout the region and required hundreds of…

By Michael Denicola The Mount Sinai Sailing Association in Mount Sinai, NY sponsored its 42nd Annual American Cancer Society Regatta on Saturday, September 16. We are very proud that our event is the second longest continuous running charity regatta in the United States. During that time, we have raised over half a million dollars for the American Cancer Society. We’d like to offer special thanks to two of our sister clubs for their support of this event. Thanks to…

By Buttons Padin The weather was the story over the first days of the four-day J/88 North American Championship, hosted by Larchmont Yacht Club in Larchmont, NY September 28 – October 1. With the opening day getting in four races in high teen/low 20s wind conditions, with the 4-6-foot sea state compounded by multiple days of easterly winds, Andy Graff (Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club) and his chilly, damp crew came ashore with a hold on the leaderboard…

By Stuart Steuli, New York Yacht Club Director of Communications Photos by Stuart Streuli and Julia Boron, NYYC   Successfully managing the extraordinarily shifty and variable winds that dominated the IC37 North American Championship required a crew that was both mentally and physically agile. This was particularly true for the final two races of the regatta, with thirteen Corinthian teams sailing inside Narragansett Bay in a very shifty and very puffy westerly. No lead was safe and…

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…

iQFOil The iQFOil is the one-design foiling windsurfer class selected by World Sailing to replace the RS:X for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and the ’28 Games in LA. The Men’s Olympic Windsurfing event will use 9m2 sails and the Women’s will use 8m2 sails. Additional classes for Junior (under age 17) and Youth (under 19) utilize smaller boards and rigs, making the iQFOil a direct pathway to Olympic Windsurfing. If you’re ready to take flight, visit iqfoilclassofficial.org. Padanaram…

Tickets are on sale now for the 2024 Hartford Boat Show. The show will boast the most boat brands and models under one roof, from Thursday, January 18 through Sunday, January 21 at the Earth Expo Center at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT. The marine industry has continued to experience unparalleled growth in the past few years, with folks from all walks of life getting started in boating at a time when travel and entertainment options were…

The 2023 Dyer Dhow Derby was held on Saturday, October 21 at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT. In very wet conditions with initially little wind and then gusts over 25 knots, hearty racers hit the course. The rainy and fluky conditions allowed for three races with Carl Fast winning the day, Jamie Race in second and Ben Wilkinson third. Carl cruised the course while holding an umbrella; everyone wore their fashionable foul weather gear. While attendance…