Checking In

The inaugural Eastern Connecticut Women’s Invitational Ideal 18 Regatta will be held Saturday, May 20, hosted by the Essex Corinthian Yacht Club in Essex, CT. The regatta is open to boats of the Ideal 18 class owned by or chartered to a recognized yacht club. This is a non-spinnaker regatta. Both the Essex Corinthian and Essex Yacht Clubs will have Ideal 18s available for charter. Both Skipper and Crew must be women. Skippers will draw for boat…

Presented by the National Women’s Sailing Association at Sail Newport The National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) is holding their 2023 National Women’s Sailing Conference on Saturday, June 3 from 8 am – 5 pm at the Sail Newport Marine Education and Recreation Center, located at 72 Fort Adams Drive in Newport, RI 02840. The event welcomes women sailors of all levels and ages to workshops including the popular Take the Helm® track — an introduction to sailing…

By Phil Dickey, Essex Yacht Club Regatta Committee Essex Yacht Club in Essex, CT is excited to announce the 71st running of the Sam Wetherill Trophy Overnight Race, the oldest ocean race currently being contested that is named after a Cruising Club of America member. The race will start Friday, May 19 off the Saybrook Point Lighthouse, and the course is out to the “G31” Bell at Gay Head on Martha’s Vineyard and then back to Saybrook,…

US Sailing presented its annual national awards at the 2023 Sailing Leadership Forum in St. Pete Beach, FL on February 4. The Eastern Connecticut Sailing Association and Junior Sailing Association of Long Island Sound were well represented among the honorees. Excellence in Instruction – Annie Longo (Groton, CT) This year’s recipient and currently ECSA’s Junior Chairperson, Annie Longo has been an ECSA instructor, race coach, and head instructor at junior sailing programs since 2014. She’s worked at Wadawanuck Club,…

Our friends at Zim Sailing in Bristol, RI have announced a multi-year partnership as the exclusive importer and distributor of the Fighter Optimist Dinghy in North America. Zim Sailing, a subsidiary of Starting Line Sailing, Inc. and the largest small sailboat manufacturer and distributor in North America, adds the Fighter to its range as a top-of-the-line Race Opti. Built in Poland by Slawomir Baranowski, the Fighter Opti is used widely on the European racing circuit, including by…

After a hiatus, one of our favorite events has found a new home as the CT Sea Music Fest drops anchor in Essex, CT the weekend of June 9 – 12. Free weekend festivities at venues around the village include a Symposium on the Music of the Sea, daytime workshops, a parade, a family stage, demonstrations of sailor skills, a Sunday morning revival-style hymn sing, and late night Chantey Sings in the historic Griswold Inn! Main stage evening…

Coboaters Bash is March 30 Our friends at Rhode Island Billiard, Bar & Bistro in North Providence, RI and Coboaters, the North America crew finder club, are co-hosting a sailors’ gathering on Thursday, March 30 from 7 to 9 pm. “If you love sailing and hail from anywhere between Boston and Block Island, come join the second winter only event of this small group of sailors, craving the social aspect of race weeks and yacht club-style fun,” said…

Our friends at the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, RI are thrilled to announce their 11th Annual Frostbite Bash on Saturday, March 25. They’ve been hosting the biggest and best bash of the winter for a decade, and with Pella Windows & Doors as Presenting Sponsor they’re not stopping! The evening (6 to 11 pm) features live music, oyster bar & open bars, photo booth & entertainment, dancing in the Hall of Boats, silent auction & raffles,…

The Whaler’s Race, hosted by New Bedford Yacht Club in South Dartmouth, MA, kicks off the New England offshore sailing season on Saturday June 3, serving as a great warm p race to start a busy summer distance race calendar. Positioned on the calendar in front of Edgartown Race Week and the Marion Bermuda Race, this PHRF ocean race has courses set in the waters of Buzzards Bay, Vineyard Sound, Rhode Island Sound, and the open ocean…

Things are cranking up for the 7th Connecticut Spring Boat Show, taking place April 28-30, 2023 at Safe Harbor Essex Island in Essex, CT. A number of new features have been added. First, boat inventory is back! Organizers are anticipating double the number of boats from last year. In addition to boats on the docks, great bands including Wooly Mammoth, Soundwave, The Vitas, and The Fake Experience will be on tap. Also on tap, Surfridge Brewing East…