April 2020

I often write about our cover photos, and the one on this month’s issue is extremely poignant. It’s a beautiful shot of high school kids, using old Brown University sails, in a springtime team race. For so many of us, it brings back instant memories of some of the most fun sailing we have ever done. Even if you only dabbled in some high school or college dinghy sailing, the feeling is still unmistakable. If you were…

Sail Newport and The Ocean Race have announced that for the third consecutive edition of the competition, The Ocean Race (formerly the Volvo Ocean Race) will make its only North American stopover in Newport, RI in the spring of 2022. The Newport stopover will be one of ten during the eight-month 38,000 nautical-mile race around the world, which begins in Alicante, Spain, in October, 2021 and finishes in Genoa, Italy in June, 2022.     For the…

David Chard, a longtime and well-known rigger who recently took a hiatus, is back on Long Island Sound. Black Rock Boat Works, LLC, the largest rigging loft on the Sound, is now open for business in a fantastically huge indoor space at Steelpointe Harbor Marina in Bridgeport, CT. Nowhere else between Manhattan and New Bedford can a rigger work on projects in a indoor, climate-controlled space with an air draft of 85 feet. A 200-ton Travel Lift brings fully…

Sheila McCurdy of Middletown, RI is the newest recipient of the Cruising Club of America’s top service award, the Richard S. Nye Trophy. McCurdy is one of several French, Irish and American sailors recognized for outstanding achievement internationally at the CCA’s annual gala awards dinner at the New York Yacht Club in New York, NY on March 6, a tradition dating back nearly a century. Recipients typically comprise both CCA members and non-members, and this year was no…

Please note: This event has been cancelled. The Essex Yacht Club in Essex, CT is pleased to announce that two-time Volvo Ocean Race skipper Charlie Enright will present “Top Ten Lessons Learned in 90,000 Miles of Volvo Ocean Racing” in their second Ocean Racing Forum of the year, on Tuesday, April 7.   “Charlie was born and raised in a boatbuilding family in Bristol, RI, attended Brown University, where he was a member of the sailing team,…

  For over 27 years, more than 700 sailors have participated in the series of races at five sailing clubs in southeastern Connecticut (Thames Yacht Club, the Stonington Dinghy Club, Stonington Harbor Yacht Club, Niantic Bay Yacht Club and the Mystic River Mudhead Sailing Association) to raise funds that enhance programs for the patients and families under the care of Hartford HealthCare at Home Center for Hospice Care. The annual Hospice Regattas hosted by Thames Yacht Club and the Stonington Dinghy Club/Stonington Harbor Yacht…

Our friends at Southold Yacht Club in Southold, NY are hosting the 50th Annual World’s Longest Sunfish Race, Around Shelter Island NY on Saturday, July 18. This circumnavigation has a course of approximately 24 miles. “The World’s Longest Sunfish Race, Around Shelter Island NY is a challenging, fun distance race for Sunfish on the beautiful Peconic Bay on Long Island’s fantastic North Fork,” said event co-chair Beth Fleisher. “In addition to many trophies to win, our sponsor, LaserPerformance,…

  Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport, CT is hosting the inaugural running of the Rumrunner 151, a Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound qualifying distance race running up and down Long Island Sound, on the weekend of June 5 – 7. The Rumrunner 151 is unique in that it’s a distance race with Class B requirements, which means there are no life rafts or safety-at-sea crew requirements. That makes the Rumrunner 151 a great way…

The friendly relationship between the four local yacht clubs in Essex, CT is quite remarkable. While each club’s board runs its organization as they see fit, there are many events where members from all clubs intermingle. Inter-club social get-togethers and lectures happen regularly, and, of course, there are regattas and other on-water events. This friendly bond among fellow yachtsmen and -women was the trigger for the Essex Corinthian Yacht Club to reach out to its neighbors and…

As Skipper of 11th Hour Racing Team, Charlie Enright’s goal to lift The Ocean Race Trophy comes with a mission to educate fans along the way on today’s environmental concerns and inspire them to do their part to benefit ocean health and our fragile planet. Born and raised in Bristol, RI, Charlie, 35, learned to sail at age 5 and was a member of the Brown University Sailing Team. Charlie had his first taste of offshore sailing in…