Racing

Photo by Manon le Geun     We left our last conversation with Peter discussing Patriot Sailing and their work with returning and damaged veterans. There is another sailor out there, Kevin Le Poidevin, a 31-year veteran of the Royal Australian Air Force, also representing and promoting groups supporting returning service members through Soldier On. Coop: When you finally had some VMG with the Project, where did you go for resources? A Mini is a sailboat, but…

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…

Cole Brauer is the first American woman to sail around the world singlehanded and non-stop. On Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 07:23 Coordinated Universal Time, Long Island native Cole Brauer crossed the finish line off the coast of A Coruna, Spain to claim second place in the 2023-24 Global Solo Challenge.   In the years since Sir Robin Knox-Johnston became the first person to do so, in 1969, fewer than 200 people have sailed alone around the…

Photo by Manon le Geun In part one of this interview, I with spoke Peter about finding The Mini World and the broken rudder episode.  In this second part we discuss some of the background of U.S. Patriot Sailing and the work they are doing in that community.   Coop: Back to the beginning, as it were. You found a Mini, bought it, and set the Mini Transat as a goal. PGN: Yup. Coop: So, how did…

Save the date and register now for this years’ Antigua Barbuda Hamptons Challenge Regatta which once again features the biggest amateur sailing prize on the East Coast! Held on Saturday, August 10, the Antigua Barbuda Hamptons Challenge Regatta will be a single handicapped race using ratings provided by PHRF of Eastern Long Island.   This regatta and awards party is sponsored by the Antigua & Barbuda Ministry of Tourism as a way to bring the sun, fun…

Our friends at Thames Yacht Club in New London, CT are hosting the first ever Cal Brouwer Memorial Shorthanded Challenge on Saturday, June 29. Honoring Calvin K. Brouwer, who managed sailboat races on Long Island Sound, Fishers Island Sound and the Thames River for more than half a century, this inaugural event is exclusively for shorthanded racers.   Classes may include Single- and Double-handed, Spinnaker and Non-Spinnaker depending on entries. The course of approximately 15 to 25 miles…

Photos by Manon le Geun Regular readers will know that Peter Gibbons-Neff recently arrived back in Annapolis after completing the 2023 Mini Transat. Finishing the race after losing a day to repair a broken rudder, his placing was not what we had all hoped for, but in such races merely finishing is a massive feat on its own. I spoke with Peter via Zoom in early January.   Coop: Peter, welcome back mate. Sorry about the placing….

By Tom McKeon October 7, 2023 was the 30th Anniversary of the Peconic Bay Sailing Association’s Whitebread Race. The race had all the hype and anticipation of a Super Bowl, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Taking place on Long Island’s Peconic Bays, the race’s name is a play on the significantly more arduous Whitbread Round the World Race. The wrath of Hurricane Ian played havoc with Whitebread 29 last October. Fog, Southeast winds from 18-30 knots, current…

Keelboat racing was the original form of intercollegiate sailing. From the McMillan Cup, first sailed in 1928 and formalized in 1930 as a quasi-national championship for college big boat crews, sprung a small number of spinoff events like the Kennedy Cup. Focused on the larger offshore keelboat fleets of the service academies, this form of intercollegiate big boat sailing was mega one-design competition. In the 1970s, that offshore schedule expanded with events like the Corinthians, rebranded in…

Submitted by Boris Badenov As a fly on the wall attending the recent 82nd annual Moosehead Awards Luncheon, it admittedly has been quite a while since my wife, Natasha and I laughed so much. As almost everyone in our region knows, the mission of the Mooseheads is to poke fun – in a good-natured way – at the foibles and fumbles of Race Committees. Poking fun is one way to put it … but “roasting” is probably more like it. To start, host…