Ship’s Log

Historic America’s Cup Defenders and Iconic Sailing Conditions Converge NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, USA (December 2, 2020) – Following the resounding success of the 2019 12mR World Championship held in Newport, R.I., the International Twelve Metre Association (ITMA) has again selected America’s City by the Sea as the venue for the 2022 12mR World Championship. “We expect an enthusiastic response and a strong turnout by our dedicated 12mR fleet members who always relish sailing out of Newport,” said ITMA President Paul…

Our friend and longtime WindCheck contributor Tom Darling is launching Episode 05 of his popular podcast Conversations with Classic Boats on Friday, December 4. “The S&S Twins: Finisterre and Fidelio is the story of the same Sparkman & Stephens design built two years apart, in 1954 and 1956,” Tom explains. “Finisterre (depicted here in a painting by our friend Russ Kramer, one of the world’s finest  marine artists) is well known by name, driven by the legendary blue…

Our friends at the New Haven Sail & Power Squadron in New Haven, Connecticut are offering a pair of online virtual Safe Boating classes via Zoom. The Marine Navigation (formerly Piloting) course starts Wednesday, Jan. 6, at 7 p.m. for eight weeks. Learn the essentials of safe coastal and inland navigation using basic GPS in conjunction with charts and other marine data.  The course teaches you how to use the GPS along with traditional dead reckoning techniques…

Held from June 21 -25, 2021, racing fleets include ORC, PHRF, Classics, Multi-Hull, and Performance Cruising Classes Larchmont, NY – The Notice of Race for the  29th Edition of the biennial Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race Week presented by Margaritaville has just been issued by Storm Trysail Club Rear Commodore and STC-BIRW 2021 Event Chair Ray Redniss.  Redniss reports, “Obviously planning for a week-long regatta in the midst of pandemic uncertainty is a challenge.  So, we are thrilled Margaritaville is…

Virtually Weathering the Holidays Together Our friends at North U, the leader in sailboat racing education, have announced three ways to get wiser on the water this winter. Want to trim, steer, and crew better? Who doesn’t want to have faster starts and consequently, winning finishes, and more consistently? It’s about performance, and that’s what North U offers, and now, with extra virtual options. Understanding that sailors and racers might have more time off the water this…

First action by Foundation for Underway Experiential Learning (FUEL) is to complete repairs to the historic vessel at Mystic Seaport Museum’s Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard Vineyard Haven, MA: Before dawn on Saturday, November 7, the iconic tall ship SHENANDOAH slid out of Vineyard Haven (Martha’s Vineyard) harbor with assistance from the tugboat THUBAN beginning the next chapter in the life of this 57-year old ship. Captains Billy Mabie, a former mate on SHENANDOAH, and Fred Murphy,…

(From an Undisclosed Location, November 11, 2020) –  For almost eight decades, a “moosechievious” society of sailboat racers called the “International Society for the Perpetuation of Cruelty to Racing Yachtsmen” (ISPCRY) has recognized both excellence in Race Committee work in Long Island Sound, as well as gaffes that will “live in infamy”. Affectionately known (or not-so-affectionately, depending on which end of the moose you’re on!) as the Moosehead Committee, the group convenes at the end of each…

Our friends at the Seamen’s Church Institute in Newport, Rhode Island have served our community for over a century. Throughout its long history, Seamen’s Church Institute has worked to enhance the vitality of our marine community. Your gift will help the organization continue its important mission “to protect, preserve and enhance the maritime culture of Newport and Narragansett Bay by providing education, hospitality and safe haven for those who work, live and play on or by the…

Plymouth, Massachusetts (October 30, 2020) – Plimoth Patuxet Museums (formerly Plimoth Plantation) is proud to announce that Mayflower II, its historic tall ship, has been named to the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of the Nation’s historic structures and places worthy of preservation. “This recognition affirms that Mayflower II is a unique and irreplaceable historic resource significant to the Commonwealth and the Nation,” said Ellie Donovan, Executive Director of Plimoth Patuxet Museums. “We are…

Today is launch day for Episode 04 of Conversations with Classic Boats, a podcast produced by our friend and longtime WindCheck contributor Tom Darling. This installment is entitled “Man and their Dinghies.” “This is our sixth month on air,” says Tom,  and what a six months that has been.  When we started Conversations with Classic Boats in May of this year, in the teeth of the pandemic, we assumed we would be touring regatta sites and interviewing fortunate owners…