Races and Regattas

By Talbot Wilson Marion MA, June 12, 2019: The Class ‘A’ boats in the 2019 Marion-Bermuda Race, which starts Friday, June 14, hope that the new handicapping ‘Anti-Bias’ adjustment added to this edition of the race will give them a better chance of winning the Founders Trophy for first place on corrected time. However that settles out, they still have their sights set on the Blue Water Sailing Club Board of Governors Trophy for shortest elapsed time for the 645-nautical…

  By Stuart Streuli   NEWPORT, RI. June 11, 2019 — The return of the Swan American Regatta and the inaugural season of racing in the new Melges IC37 fleet are two of the many reasons why the 165th edition of the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta is seeing a significant upswing in entries. With just shy of 150 entries, and a few days still remaining until the first gun, this year’s running of North America’s…

By Talbot Wilson Marion MA, June 11, 2019 – For Steve Gordon, the 22nd Marion-Bermuda Race will be his first. Starting Friday (June 14) he will race his Alden 50 sloop Elena in the 645-nautical mile  ‘Race to the Rock’ with two goals in mind— win and have fun. He will enjoy all the adventure his first Marion Bermuda Race promises to deliver.   Steve and Elena arrived in Marion on Sunday after a quicker-than-expected delivery trip up the coast…

Ace shooter and longtime WindCheck pal Steve Cloutier was on Narragansett Bay Thursday, May 30 for the arrival of three historic 12 Metre yachts from Europe. These beauties and many others are contesting the last four events of the 12 Metre Class Association’s Waypoints Series (http://www.12mrclass.com/waypoints/), leading up to the largest-ever gathering of historic 12 Metre yachts in the U.S. The week of July 8 – 13, 24 teams from seven countries face off in the 2019 12…

On the evenings of June 20 and 27, July 11 and 25, and August 30, the Classic Yacht Owners Association and Sail Newport will again partner to offer free and casual Thursday evening races for classic yachts on Narragansett Bay. These are non-spinnaker races with an emphasis on fun, not results. This is a chance to get a bit more mileage out of all that work you put in this spring while enjoying a fun and low-key evening on the water with…

Maureen McKinnon (Marblehead, MA), a medalist in the Rio 2016 and China 2018 Paralympic Games, as well as Wounded Warriors: Rebecca Miller, USAFO (Tampa, Fl), Katherine Atkinson, Navy JAG Corp (Seminole, Florida) and Dawn Hart, USCG (Tampa, FL) are all competing in the 2019 Robie Pierce Regatta for sailors with disabilities. With a record turnout, this should be an exciting match-up of winners racing at the American Yacht Club, Rye NY. McKinnon will compete against nine other…

On Friday, May 24, Oakcliff Sailing’s three Farr 40s and the Ker 50 Temptation crossed the start line of the Storm Trysail Club’s 74th Block Island Race outside of Stamford, CT. They started out reaching in a gusty 15 to 20-knot breeze. Prospects looked good for Black, who initially pulled ahead of the fleet but when they rounded the first mark off Block Island at sunrise the next morning, they were neck and neck with Blue and…

Marion Bermuda Handicap Adjustment Introduced  By Talbot Wilson Marion MA, May 21, 2019: When the 2019 Marion Bermuda Race starts June 14, the Founders Division boats will be sailing under a unique, new “anti-bias” adjustment of the ORR handicap system. The adjustment designed by race organizers in collaboration with the Offshore Racing Association (ORA) should remove the bias against faster boats by eliminating the “Parking Lot” effect. The “Parking Lot Effect” is the bias which occurs when faster boats lose time against slower boats…