January-February 2023

Support your local race committee! This photo, taken the same day as this month’s cover shot, shows a Dyer Dhow start at the Larry Goodwin Trophy Regatta at Norwalk Yacht Club in Norwalk, Connecticut.  Photographer Rick Bannerot reports a temperature of 20°F with 20-knot gusts. That’s Principal Race Officer Ed Cesare shivering atop the NYC Frostbite Shack.   © Rick Bannerot/OntheFlyPhoto.net     Welcome to the first issue of 2023! And since it’s winter time and other than a…

Publisher’s Note: To a few generations of racing sailors in the WindCheck Community, Mary Savage was a competitor and a judge. (She was also the Mom of one of my first sailing instructors, John Savage.) Unlike some judges, Mary was a fierce competitor first who then became a very generous contributor back to the sport. And as many of us observed through our junior sailing days on through adulthood and competitive racing at all levels, Mary trailblazed…

Our friends at the Marion Bermuda Race, Marblehead Halifax Race and Bermuda 1-2 Race are jointly sponsoring the inaugural Northeast Ocean Race Symposium on March 25, 2023 at Bentley University in Waltham, MA. The Marion Bermuda Race, as lead organizer, has teamed up with with the Marblehead Halifax Race and the Bermuda 1-2 Race to offer this unique event. The event is open to all race participants and the public; it is not a race requirement. Join us for a full…

Organizers of Charleston Race Week are excited to announce a new venue for the Regatta Village, coming up April 20-23, on the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, SC, close to Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina. A mixture of history and modernity, the Yorktown is one of the most beautifully unique event venues in Charleston, offering unparalleled views of Charleston Harbor and the city skyline from the flight deck. On Saturday night, the popular PRO-AM…

The Ocean Race makes its only North American stopover in Newport, RI this spring. This free 9-day festival (May 11 – 21 at Fort Adams State Park) is hosted by Sail Newport, The State of Rhode Island, and 11th Hour Racing. Race boats are expected to arrive in Newport from Itajai, Brazil on or close to May 10. The “Ocean Live Park” is accessible to the public every day. Visitors can see the race boats up close at…

Connecticut Spring Boat Show is April 28 – 30 The 7th Connecticut Spring Boat Show will take place April 28-30, 2023 at Safe Harbor Essex Island in Essex, CT. Visitors will enjoy seeing a wide range of new and brokerage, power and sail models ranging from 20 to 65 and above feet from leading boat brands. In addition to boats on the dock, the show will have yacht brokers, gear, artists, accessories, and service companies exhibiting on…

By Tom McKeon The Peconic Bay Sailing Association held their 29th Annual Whitebread Race on Saturday, October 1, 2022. Taking place on Long Island’s Peconic Bays, the event’s name derives from the significantly more arduous Whitbread Round the World Race. Like all Whitebreads, one thing is for sure. This one will certainly be talked about for many years to come.   At the beginning of 2022 I planned my calendar, and my fall in particular, around the…

By John Storck III     The third running of the Seawanhaka Invitational for the Cruise Cup was held on October 29 & 30, 2022. The fleet racing regatta hosts yacht clubs and sailing associations from throughout the region surrounding Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club in Oyster Bay, NY. Each team is required to have at least one sailor of each gender. Races are targeted at 30 minutes, and teams rotate through the provided Sonars throughout the event….

By Phil Dickey, MD   It seemed like every sailor on the docks at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club had been on a boat where the A2 kite had blown up during the first day of the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race. Though there are no official tallies of the number of torn sails, Jack Orr, North Sails expert in Bridgeport, CT, said, “Our shop was full of them.” Jack points out that his folks repaired kites from…

By Tom Darling, Conversations with Classic Boats This boating history is one of connecting the dots of boat design over almost a century, with names that are larger than life: Uffa Fox, Bruce Kirby, Dr. Stuart Walker. Their common heritage is small boat performance sailing. As a sailor in Long Island Sound who escaped the slow and steady Blue Jay and Lightning for the speed and trills of the Thistle and the Laser, I can identify. I…