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Our Hardwater Sailing President By Tom Darling, Conversations with Classic Boats Who would have thought that the 32nd President of the United States, a known yachtsman, honed his skills in hardwater sailing on the Hudson River. In fact, Franklin Delano Roosevelt followed in a long family tradition of ice yachting.     Records at the FDR National Historic Site in Hyde Park, New York tell the story of the active ice yachting scene on the Hudson in…

By Sean Duclay, SailAhead Co-Founder Photos by Jennifer Duclay, SailAhead Photographer & Boat Jumper SailAhead is an organization on a mission to fight veteran suicide with the power of sailing. By providing free and frequent access to sailing, we hope to save lives and provide support to those who need it most. SailAhead’s mission is threefold: 1. Use sailing and the ocean as a therapeutic platform to foster healing in our military community. It can be easy to…

By Chris Otorowski   One hundred years after its founding, the Cruising Club of America threw itself a big party in Newport, RI last September. More than 400 CCA members and spouses took over the Newport Harbor Hotel and its marina for four days of fun and education. Cruising “royalty” attending included featured guest Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who delivered a keynote at the opening dinner on Monday night. Knox-Johnston was the winner of the 1968 Golden Globe,…

By Paul Jacobs & Tom McDonald Editor’s note: This is the final installment of an epic tale in which the authors acquired a lovely 1964 Graves Constellation and embarked on a 200-mile delivery to her new homeport. If you missed Parts 1 and 2, you’ll find them at: https://www.windcheckmagazine.com/article/the-saga-of-eleven-bridges-part-2/ https://www.windcheckmagazine.com/article/the-saga-of-eleven-bridges   The Adventure Resumed Finally, on 14 May 2022 Tom and I drove to Westport, Connecticut – yet again – and slept aboard. We awoke on the…

By Doug Dalessio The Mount Sinai Sailing Association in Mount Sinai, NY sponsored its 41st Annual American Cancer Society Regatta on Saturday, September 17. We are very proud that our event is the second longest continuous running charity regatta in the United States. During that time we have raised over a half a million dollars for the American Cancer Society, and this year we raised over $25,000.     We’d like to offer special thanks to two of our…

By Buttons Padin Adapted from the Larchmont Yacht Club Mainsheet Rich du Moulin is not only renowned for his competitive sailing accomplishments but also his many contributions to the sport of sailing and the maritime shipping industry. Rich grew up in the 1950s and ‘60s sailing at Knickerbocker Yacht Club in Manhasset, NY. The son of Eleanor and Edward du Moulin, he quickly picked up his father’s passion for sailing. Ed raced his series of boats named…

By Paul Jacobs & Tom McDonald The Voyage The first hint that the weather forecast would not prove especially accurate soon occurred on the first leg. The marine forecast called for 7-10 knots out of the west, which would have resulted in a lovely starboard tack beam reach down the Hudson. However, we departed the Minisceongo Yacht Club in a near calm, and about two hours later as we motorsailed under the Tappan Zee Bridge the wind…

Connecting people to the water at The WaterFront Center Story and photos by Rick Bannerot One does not need to make too large a leap between the dock and the gunwales of Hobie catamarans, Sonars, a Mariner 36, J/105s, or a 125-year-old oyster sloop. What you first need is access to the docks, floating rafts and moorings where these kinds of boats are kept in the summer. You also need a compelling reason to amass such a…

By Joe Butera The elderly couple had sailed together for most of their lives. They had raced both casually and more seriously in club and local events on Long Island Sound and Block Island. They had even raced to Bermuda twice and had cruised with their yacht club more times than could be remembered. These folks were the very definition of a “sailing couple.” But now, after more than fifty years of sailing and fast approaching their…

By Mayla Guidi, Head Instructor Clinton, Connecticut is not just the Bluefish Capital of the World. With its protected shallow waters surrounding Clinton Town Beach and Cedar Island, Clinton is also home to a proud US Sailing member called Clinton Sailing Club (CSC).   Having grown up in Clinton with non-seafaring parents, I learned to sail out of state. A program such as CSC wasn’t available for me. Returning home to Clinton to witness the skills my…