Racing

11th Hour Racing Team in The Ocean Race By Sean McNeill The Ocean Race bills Leg 3 from Cape Town, South Africa, to Itajaí, Brazil (underway as this issue went to press) as a monstrous undertaking. At 12,750 nautical miles it is the longest leg in the 50-year history of the race, surpassing by 450 nautical miles Leg 5 from China to Brazil in the 2008-’09 race. Racing in the deep latitudes of the Roaring Forties and…

The town of Mount Pleasant and City of Charleston, SC are rightfully proud of the grand prix regatta that has become a fixture of the region. Charleston Race Week has brought a huge economic boost to both municipalities for more than a quarter of a century, and the regatta unlike any other has a new Race Village aboard the USS Yorktown, the historic World War II era aircraft carrier berthed at Patriots Point. Longtime Race Week organizer…

MELGES: The Wizard of Zenda, a film about the life of sailing legend Buddy Melges, will have its Connecticut premiere at the CT Spring Boat Show. Hosted at Essex Yacht Club, airings will be Saturday 29th, 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm. Shows are limited to 70 people so advance tickets are very important. Purchase your tickets HERE. Wizard of Zenda takes the viewer on a wild ride through the career of one of the greatest sailors in…

Our friends at the Connecticut River Frostbite Squadron based in Essex, CT, better known as FBYC (Frostbite Yacht Club) are kicking off their 90th season of racing on the Connecticut River! “All sailors that are willing to brave a little cold weather are invited to join us for a great season of racing,” says FBYC Secretary Evan Cooper. “Currently we have four active fleets of Etchells, Lasers, Ideal 18s, and JY15s.” “The club hosts a Spring Series (March…

A U.S. Naval Academy grad, a U.S. Marine and a U.S. Patriot Sailing Ambassador, this intrepid sailor is taking on his biggest challenge in the Mini Transat.     What is your sailing background, and how did that lead to Classe Mini 6.50 and the Mini Transat? Originally from the suburbs of Philadelphia, I grew up sailing Optis on the Delaware River at the Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia. In high school, I spent the summers racing 420s…

By Dave Hemenway Photos by Robert Deaves     Fifty-eight sailors from sixteen countries contested the 2023 Finn Gold Cup, hosted by the Coconut Grove Sailing Club in Miami, FL January 27 – 31. The Finn is a popular, performance oriented 14’ 9” single sail dinghy that was developed for the 1952 Olympics by Scandinavian designer Rickard Sarby, based on an International Canoe design. The original wooden boats were made by home builders in the Scandinavian countries….

By Phil Dickey, MD   It seemed like every sailor on the docks at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club had been on a boat where the A2 kite had blown up during the first day of the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race. Though there are no official tallies of the number of torn sails, Jack Orr, North Sails expert in Bridgeport, CT, said, “Our shop was full of them.” Jack points out that his folks repaired kites from…

By John Storck III     The third running of the Seawanhaka Invitational for the Cruise Cup was held on October 29 & 30, 2022. The fleet racing regatta hosts yacht clubs and sailing associations from throughout the region surrounding Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club in Oyster Bay, NY. Each team is required to have at least one sailor of each gender. Races are targeted at 30 minutes, and teams rotate through the provided Sonars throughout the event….

By Tom McKeon The Peconic Bay Sailing Association held their 29th Annual Whitebread Race on Saturday, October 1, 2022. Taking place on Long Island’s Peconic Bays, the event’s name derives from the significantly more arduous Whitbread Round the World Race. Like all Whitebreads, one thing is for sure. This one will certainly be talked about for many years to come.   At the beginning of 2022 I planned my calendar, and my fall in particular, around the…

By Nick Bowen The Twenty Hundred Club had their sixth and final race of the season on Saturday, September 24. For such a windy fall day we were quite pleased to have twenty-seven boats competing in five classes. Fifteen spinnaker boats were signed up to race, but because of a high wind forecast and general difficulty raising crews in late September, we had three (of seven registered) boats race in Spin-A and six (of eight registered) in…