What’s New

Tradition of the Past Meets Innovation of Today Through a collaboration with Sparkman & Stephens (S&S), the Downeast Peapod company (a wholly owned subsidiary of W-Class™ Yacht Company in Newport, R.I.) has given its namesake double-ended rowboat a 21st Century makeover. To stay true to the design and thus the heritage of these historic wooden boats, S&S (also located in Newport) scanned the original lines of a Jimmy Steele Downeast Peapod, which was built with plank-on-frame construction over 20 years…

The mixed crew will be racing aboard the Hawaii-based Andrews 70 Sailing Yacht TRADER Honolulu, Hawaii – TRADER Sailing, a military veteran outreach sailing program based out of Honolulu, Hawaii, has announced their campaign to race in the 51st edition of the Transpacific Yacht Race (Transpac). Skipper and retired U.S. Marine Doug Pasnik has compiled a national team of military veterans and rising female offshore racers from all corners of the United States, including Hawaii, California, Utah,…

Season 2, Episode 01 of Conversations with Classic Boats, a popular podcast created by our friend and longtime WindCheck contributor Tom Darling, is now online. “Dawn of the Sixes: Seawanhaka and the International Rule” isPart I of a three-episode series on the history of the first international development class. This first episode covers the design evolution and designers of the earliest Sixes up to 1920. Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club in Oyster Bay, New York was the epicenter of the Six Metre movement….

Our friends at Safe Harbor Marinas are presenting the inaugural Safe Harbor Race Weekend, a three-day sailing regatta in and around Narragansett Bay, on the weekend of August 13-15. With shoreside activities hosted by Safe Harbor Marinas in Newport, Portsmouth, and Jamestown, Rhode Island, this event is geared toward the enjoyment of boat owners, families, and crew. “We hope you’ll join us this summer for some exciting racing, live entertainment, tasty food and plenty of laughs at…

OYSTER BAY, NY (December 3, 2020) – For 10 years, Oakcliff has been raising the caliber of sailing in the United States. This has meant amassing the largest collection of Olympic class boats, awarding more than a million dollars in prize grants to Olympic campaigners and hopefuls through the Triple Crown series, training athletes who are now competing in The Ocean Race and the America’s Cup, and creating an academic program for aspiring champions with the USPA…

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…

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…

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…