July 2023

I really like the glorious cover of this month’s WindCheck. The light, the composition and of course, the lines of the S Boats are really striking. Then you have the picture of the Star sailors from the 1920s in our running of an excerpt from Carol Cronin’s 100 Years of Gold Stars. They don’t look exactly like Captain Nat’s more important clients, but for some guys mixing it up in a brand new one-design they look pretty…

By Sarah Doiron and T.J. Del Santo   Abandoned fishing equipment, also called “ghost gear,” has been plaguing Narragansett Bay for decades. That’s why the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation kick-started the arduous process of removing countless abandoned traps, rope, pots and nets from the bay floor. The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation started removing the discarded fishing tools this spring, according to Executive Director David Bethoney. To date, said Bethoney, their vessels have trawled the bay six times…

Our friends at Prestige Yacht Sales, one of the finest yacht dealers and brokerage firms in the Northeast for thirty-three years, are moving to a new location at Spicer’s Marina in Noank, CT. “You probably know us from our office at Seaport Marine in downtown Mystic over the past fifteen years, said Prestige president Tom Pilkington. “With additional Connecticut locations in Norwalk and Essex as well as an office in East Greenwich, RI, Prestige Yacht Sales serves…

Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, founded in 1922 in the seaside village of Cold Spring Harbor, NY, has signed on as title sponsor of this year’s Around Long Island Regatta (ALIR). Well known “around Long Island” for its iconic whale logo, Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty is an ideal partner for this iconic race. ALIR host club Sea Cliff Yacht Club is proud to welcome the company as the title sponsor. “I hope that other Long Island…

If you are interested in learning about optimizing your rig and rigging, our friends at Newport Rigging Group (NRG) will be sharing valuable advice on spars, rig service, standing rigging, and tuning in upcoming editions of WindCheck. In 2020, Chuck Brown, Michael Brady, Peter Eagan and David Moffet saw a need for an independent rigging company and NRG was born. In-depth knowledge of spar and rigging construction, service and engineering allows NRG to provide the best support…

This year marked the 14th running of the Robie Pierce One-Design Regatta, hosted jointly by Larchmont and American Yacht Clubs. This year’s Robie was at Larchmont starting on Thursday, June 1 with the Robie Women’s Invitational (the world’s only all-women’s adaptive regatta) followed by the Robie One-Design Friday, June 2 to Sunday, June 4. This was the year that everyone showed up except the wind!   Despite the best intentions of the Event and Race Committee, the six…

Story & photos by Stuart Streuli After 45 races in conditions that ranged from heavy air to survival sailing, four of the ten teams competing in the New York Yacht Club’s third annual Women’s 2v2 Team Race were tied for first place with 7 points apiece. And perhaps that’s appropriate.   Given the dire forecast for Newport, RI heading into the weekend of June 3 & 4, the fact that any races were held at all is…

By Phil Dickey, Essex Yacht Club Essex Yacht Club’s seventy-first Wetherill Race, which started Friday, May 19, was again a challenging and enjoyable ocean racing event. Reconfigured in 2021 to a 140-mile course from Old Saybrook, CT to Gay Head on Martha’s Vineyard and back, leaving Block Island to starboard, 80% of the Race takes place in ocean waters. The Wetherill is an excellent spring tune-up for the Bermuda Races, the Marblehead to Halifax Race, or other…

1922–1932: Star Racing Expands Around the World By Carol Newman Cronin Published by the International Star Class Yacht Racing Association, all rights reserved     The first decade of international Star Class competition saw exponential growth on almost every continent. In 1922, six boats sailed a championship out of Manhasset Bay in Western Long Island Sound; it was the first time that any sailors from the East and West Coasts and Great Lakes had all started together…

Adds Second ORC Class, Third “Bagheera” Class in PHRF Division, New Courses The Ida Lewis Yacht Club has refined its modifications announced earlier this year for the 2023 edition of the Ida Lewis Distance Race presented by Bluenose Yacht Sales. Scheduled for Friday, August 18 through Saturday, August 19, the race will now host a second class in ORC Division to make ORC 1 and ORC 2, while a third class – named Bagheera – will be added to the existing Aloha and Coronet classes for monohulls sailing in the…