Author: Chris Szepessy

(Editor’s note: In our October issue, we presented the first part of an interview with Charles “Butch” Ulmer (“75 Years of UK Sailmakers’). The article, which can be found at windcheckmagazine.com/article/75-years-of-uk-sailmakers/, contained a bit of erroneous information on the subject of accidental puncture wounds sustained by sail loft handworkers. Dear Ben, First, thank you for making me a household name in the Long Island Sound sailing world. I’ve never gotten so much press. Second, somewhere in our…

The former General Manager of Brewer Greenport Marinas in Greenport, New York, Mike Acebo has worked as a backcountry ski guide, a mountaineering instructor, a white water and sea kayaking instructor, an Outward Bound director, and an emergency medical technician. An ardent sailor, iceboater and boatbuilder, he’s showing no sign of no slowing down. “I was born in Denver and called Colorado home for thirty years,” says Mike, who lives in East Marion, New York on Long…

An interview with Butch Ulmer This is the second installment of our conversation with Charles “Butch” Ulmer about the history of the company founded by his father in City Island, New York in 1946. Part 1 can be found at windcheckmagazine.com/article/75-years-of-uk-sailmakers/. WindCheck: So, you started working full time at Charles Ulmer, Inc. in 1965… Butch Ulmer: Yes. I had worked during the summers in high school and when I returned home after leaving the Navy, I went…

A novel by Roger Vaughan Published by Choptank Word Bank 249 pages $17.95 If you read the excerpt from Fastnet; One Man’s Voyage in our October edition (windcheckmagazine.com/article/an-excerpt-from-fastnet-one-mans-voyage/), a compelling firsthand account of the ill-fated 1979 Fastnet Race aboard Jim Kilroy’s 79-foot maxi Kialoa, you know that author, yachting historian and longtime WindCheck contributor Roger Vaughan is a superb storyteller. His first novel Coming About is a first-rate thriller. The striking cover photo by Carlo Borlenghi sets…

By Louise Harrison If names like moss animal and dog whelk sound counterintuitive, or if blood ark, skeleton shrimp, and spider crab seem mildly disturbing, would you be surprised they belong to creatures found around Plum Island, New York, home of a federal animal disease laboratory? Would you be relieved to know they’re perfectly normal marine animals in a healthy ecosystem in Eastern Long Island Sound? We know these and many other species live in Plum Island’s…

The newly formed Guilford Sailing Team, which launched in September 2021 as a club sport for sailors at Guilford High School in Guilford, CT, is off to an amazing start! The team’s first fall season is well underway with a roster of eight enthusiastic and talented sailors. Guilford Yacht Club has generously provided a home base for the team, with practices held three days a week after school. This location is fantastic, providing the sailors easy access…

Story & photos by Rick Bannerot I’ve had the pleasure of photographing sailing on western Long Island Sound for 20+ years, ranging from Opti dinghies to Maxi yachts and just about everything in between. I am routinely gobsmacked by the growth of junior sailing, particularly juniors sailing on, and in fact actually sailing “big boats” ranging from keelboats like Sonars on the small side to 60-foot bluewater distance racers. Adult racers and cruisers always seem to be…

  Editor’s note: For this final installment in our Herreshoff Jubilee Celebration series, we’re visiting a very enthusiastic Herreshoff one-design fleet in the Florida Keys. Our friends at the Herreshoff Marine Museum & America’s Cup Hall of Fame in Bristol, Rhode Island are celebrating their Golden Jubilee year – the 50th anniversary of the museum’s founding, and WindCheck is honored to be the official Jubilee Media Partner. The Herreshoff Marine Museum is located on the grounds of the former…

Story & photos by Greg Anthony We had just crossed the finish line. As I rounded the boat up for the 5-mile beat home, the elation of saving our time on “Z” and flat out finishing ahead of all our other fleet members turned to dread. It would be dark in 15 minutes, it was blowing 15, and the Mt. Hope Bridge, 4.5 miles to windward, was disappearing in the approaching fog bank. Lights on the bridge…

Mark Zagol is the 2021 Viper 640 North American Champion, with Grace Howie and Meredith Killion victorious in the inaugural Viper 640 Women’s North American Championship Our friends at Noroton Yacht Club in Darien, CT hosted the first ever Viper 640 Women’s North American Championship and the 2021 Viper 640 North American Championships on October 2 & 3 and 7 -10, respectively. Boat speed was the name of the game in the first event of “Viper Week”…