The Regatta Committee of the Essex Yacht Club in Essex, CT are pleased to announce the third and final Ocean Racing Forum for this year, Newport Bermuda Night, on Saturday, October 5. “Our speaker will be Sheila McCurdy, Past Commodore of the Cruising Club of America, who is an experienced ocean racer,” said Phil Dickey of the EYC Regatta Committee. “Commodore McCurdy will speak on behalf of the Newport Bermuda Race Organizing Committee and she will talk to us about her experiences on the race and about ocean racing in general. According to the Committee, her presentation ‘invites you aboard, dispels myths, and offers robust discussion of successful past races.’ As usual, we encourage vigorous discussion and lively debate.”
A resident of Middletown, Rhode Island, McCurdy has sailed 18 Newport Bermuda Races, half of them as skipper and navigator aboard her 38-foot sloop Selkie, which was designed by her father, Jim McCurdy. She led her crew to several trophies including second overall twice, in 1994 and 2008.
The Forum, which is open to the public and free of charge, will begin at 18:15 at the Essex Yacht Club, which is located at 13 Novelty Lane in Essex. “Please park in the gravel sailors’ lot just to the southwest of the Club building,” said Dickey. “Also, please RSVP to Office Manager Ellen Kelly at Ellen.Kelly@essexyc.com or 860-767-8121 if you plan to attend.”
In the Newport Bermuda Race Organizing Committee’s ongoing Newport Bermuda Race Night series, veterans of the 635-mile offshore “Thrash to the Onion Patch” will present both the history and current challenges of this 114-year-old race, which next starts June 19, 2020. Sometimes a true “thrash,” sometimes a test of patience, the race remains a bucket-list test of sailors. For more information, log onto bermudarace.com. To learn more about Essex Yacht Club, visit essexyc.com. ■
Ocean Racing Forum
