April 2023

It is official. CT Spring Boat Show is on the horizon, boats are going into the water, baseball is happening and March Madness and the Frozen Four will soon be in the rearview mirror. At the time of this writing, WindCheck country was well represented, with UConn Men in the Final Four of hoops while the UConn Women sadly were eliminated (wait till next year!). Boston University AND Quinnipiac are both in the Frozen Four in hockey….

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…

By Phil Dickey, Essex Yacht Club Regatta Committee Essex Yacht Club in Essex, CT is excited to announce the 71st running of the Sam Wetherill Trophy Overnight Race, the oldest ocean race currently being contested that is named after a Cruising Club of America member. The race will start Friday, May 19 off the Saybrook Point Lighthouse, and the course is out to the “G31” Bell at Gay Head on Martha’s Vineyard and then back to Saybrook,…

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…

Presented by the National Women’s Sailing Association at Sail Newport The National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) is holding their 2023 National Women’s Sailing Conference on Saturday, June 3 from 8 am – 5 pm at the Sail Newport Marine Education and Recreation Center, located at 72 Fort Adams Drive in Newport, RI 02840. The event welcomes women sailors of all levels and ages to workshops including the popular Take the Helm® track — an introduction to sailing…

  Welcome to the CT Spring Boat Show, 2023! Cat’s Paw, LLC, and WindCheck Magazine are proud to manage this unique event for the participating Yacht Brokers and Exhibitors that serve the Boating Communities of Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York. They are the ones who are making this growing event one of the most interesting and fun ways to provide the experienced boater with high-quality products to view but also help less experienced, aspiring people to get…

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…

Edgartown Yacht Club (EYC) in Edgartown, MA will celebrate a full century of competitive sailing this year with its 100thAnnual Regatta on July 12-16. The regatta first took place in 1924 and was run from a rented cottage on the waterfront at the Harborside Inn. More than 100 vessels – mainly small gaff-rigged Catboats – took part in a festival of sail that delighted participants and spectators alike. Over the decades since, the event has met with continued success, morphing…

Story & photos by David Hemenway A group of United States East Coast Finn sailors have started a new organization called the Classic Finn Organization and have developed a website at classicfinns.org. Our goal is to revitalize older, often unused, Finns and get them out sailing. Classic Finns are a great way to go sailing at a reasonable cost in a fantastic boat. This website provides information on available Finns and equipment, in addition to upcoming Finn…

When there are no other boats around, it’s easy to execute a good windward mark rounding. But unless you’re near the front (or back!) of the fleet, you normally have plenty of company as you approach the mark. And they’re all trying to beat you! In order to implement your mark-rounding strategy (i.e. to have an optimal rounding), one thing you need is good tactics. Tactics are the boat-on-boat moves you make to follow your chosen course…