Author: Chris Szepessy

An abiding love of sailing was Matt Duggan’s inspiration for a career change, and he hasn’t looked back. As the Regatta Manager at Sail Newport, Rhode Island’s Public Sailing Center, he’s a man who loves his work. “I grew up in Sandwich, a town on Cape Cod,” says Matt, who now resides in Newport. “I started sailing Beetlecats when I was 6 or 7 years old, and eventually moved into Optis. My first boat was a red…

By AK   On Sunday, June 30, my friends Arlene Graffa and John Cravenho were helping deliver my Cal 27 Elektra from Shelton to Norwalk, Connecticut when we were overtaken by an unpredicted flash microburst with winds over 70 miles per hour. We started sailing down the Housatonic River from Shelton at 8 am, passing under the Merritt Parkway, I-95, the 110-year-old Metro North Devon bascule bridge, and the Washington Bridge (Route 1). We encountered a (much…

By Rory Cumming   I’ve always thought of Western Long Island Sound as a relatively safe place to sail during the summer. The biggest worry is typically heavy boat traffic and skippers exhibiting poor judgment. The exception was on Sunday, June 30. The day began with sunny skies and a nice 15-knot westerly. The Sound was packed with sailboats of all sizes, and my wife Jaci and I were sailing our Dehler 38c Rascal under jib alone….

By Paul Heiney Published by Adlard Coles Nautical, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 230 pages hardcover $26 In 1988, British TV presenter Paul Heiney and his wife, Libby Purves, and their two small children sailed all the way around Great Britain on their Cornish pilot cutter. Heiney’s son Nicholas shared his love of sailing, and by age twenty-one he had sailed across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on a tall ship. Tortured by mental illness for…

By Alex Hapgood Published by Adlard Coles Nautical, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 190 pages paperback $30 In his introduction to Kiteboarding: Where It’s At…, author Alex Hapgood recounts a telephone call from Bloomsbury Publishing in which the caller said, “We’ve been taking a look around and there aren’t many books about kiteboarding. Do you fancy putting one together?” Well, our friends at the British publishing house chose the right man for the job. An avid…

By Amber Stronk, Communications Manager at Sailors for the Sea powered by Oceana With over 12 million registered boats in the U.S. alone, many of these sailors and boaters see firsthand the issues that our oceans face such as plastic pollution, oil spills and marine habitat destruction. Sailors for the Sea is mobilizing engaged conservationists within the sailing and boating community who are collectively taking action to address pressing ocean health issues. Our Green Boating initiative provides…

By William Owen McClung     DON’T PANIC! The cover of the Hitchhiker’s Guide flashed through my mind when I learned that I had won the Sail Black Rock/Oakcliff Sailing/WindCheck Magazine essay contest for the Oakcliff Foiling Camp scholarship. Oakcliff bills itself as the premier American institution for developing next-level sailors, and it suddenly dawned on me that I might be out of my league. En route to Oakcliff in Oyster Bay, New York, the butterflies in…

  Shifty, gusty northwesterly breezes proved challenging for the six international teams contesting New York SailGP in the waters of New York, New York on June 21 & 22, delighting the wildly cheering crowds on the waterfront at Brookfield Place in Battery Park City. Team representing the United States, Australia, China, France, Great Britain and Japan did battle in this third event of the inaugural SailGP season. The Japan SailGP Team, led by double Olympic medalist helmsman…

By Sam Crichton Newport, Rhode Island dialed up chamber of commerce weather for the final day of racing at the 17th C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta, hosted by Sail Newport June 18 – 23.  The day started out with the predicted Northwest breeze, which was steady at around 10 knots until it dropped out causing the race committee to abandon the very last race.     Sailors from across North America, as afar afield as Alberta,…

Many WindCheck readers know Ole Nielsen as the founder and president of Destino Yachts in Branford, Connecticut, and the builder of the loveliest mahogany runabout we’ve ever seen. Our Editor-in-Chief interviewed Ole for the ‘On Watch’ page a few years ago, as the Destino 20 was nearing completion. Upon returning from the workshop he exclaimed, “It’s a nice as a Riva – possibly even nicer – and it’s handcrafted in the USA…wish I could afford it!” The…