May 2023

One of the great benefits of our region is the volume of waterborne activity. And despite hand wringing about most everything, this volume seems to be increasing. The recent CT Spring Boat Show, where you may have picked up this magazine, was larger than last year by 25%. The Ocean Race Newport Stopover, with boats expected to arrive May 10-12 and free admission at Ocean Park Live May 13- 21, is going to be a bigger event…

The New England Multihull Association (NEMA) and the Beverly Yacht Club (BYC) in Marion, MA will host the 2023 Corsair Nationals and Rendezvous July 28-30, 2023. Racing is open to all Corsair and Farrier Trimarans and any design with five or more entrants will compete as a one-design class. This event is held in conjunction with the Buzzards Bay Multihull Regatta, which is open to all NEMA-rated multihulls and will be scored separately. Racing will be held…

The inaugural Eastern Connecticut Women’s Invitational Ideal 18 Regatta will be held Saturday, May 20, hosted by the Essex Corinthian Yacht Club in Essex, CT. The regatta is open to boats of the Ideal 18 class owned by or chartered to a recognized yacht club. This is a non-spinnaker regatta. Both the Essex Corinthian and Essex Yacht Clubs will have Ideal 18s available for charter. Both Skipper and Crew must be women. Skippers will draw for boat…

Annual mammograms and follow-up biopsies are crucial in identifying breast cancer early, as early detection can lead to better outcomes. Middlesex Health uses a specialized breast biopsy system to perform stereotactic, ultrasound, and MRI-guided biopsies at its Radiology locations. These image-guided biopsies allow the radiologist to obtain a small tissue sample for laboratory testing and are less invasive than a surgical biopsy. The computer-guided system can pinpoint and mark the exact location of an abnormality and the…

Our friends at the Connecticut Marine Trades Association (CMTA) have announced the 2023 recipients of the Jeanne Czel Person of the Year Award. The first recipient is Devin Santa, a member of the CMTA Board of Directors and CMTA Environmental and Dredge committee. The President of RACE Coastal Engineering whose stated mission is “to provide responsive solutions where water meets land,” Santa has had a role in the planning, design, and implementation of hundreds of coastal engineering…

River Jam is a local music festival hosted by our friends at Mystic Shipyard (100 Essex Street in Mystic, CT) June 23 & 24. Showcasing music from rock to reggae to country, this event supports two great charities. Tickets for Friday are $15. Tickets for Saturday are $25, or get a weekend pass for $30. 2023 Lineup Friday, 6/23 The Pneumatics 5-5:45pm The Troublemakers 6-7:45pm Mystic Dead 8-10pm   Saturday, 6/24 Chris MacKay and the Toneshifters 1-2pm…

By the time this issue hits the newsstands, the sailors and yachts in The Ocean Race will be bearing down on Newport, RI, and the finish of Leg 4. For the third consecutive edition of the globe-girdling race, Newport is the lone North American stopover port. The previous stopovers in 2015 and 2018 attracted more than 247,000 visitors to the City-by-the-Sea. Will you be part of it this year? Leg 4 of The Ocean Race, a 5,550-nautical…

All-Women Crew Sets Their Sights on the Annapolis to Newport Race By Maya Hoffman The never-ending allure of blue water races is real. Last summer I was one of the onboard coaches for Team Bitter End, the youngest all-female crew to complete the Newport Bermuda Race. The journey with Team Bitter End was everything I imagined it would be and more. The intensive six weeks I spent at Oakcliff Sailing, training and working with the team, proved…

By John Fries Handicap racing in the U.S. is an interesting journey with many twists and turns, and like many racers Eastern Connecticut competitors have been racing under PHRF (Performance Handicap Rating Formula) for a number of years. PHRF has been a trusty companion but has faced stiff challenges in providing fair handicaps with ever-changing boat types in our fleets and a wide diversity of race courses.     While serving on the Connecticut PHRF board I…

It has become commonplace, in many fleets during recent years, to sail windward-leeward courses with a gate for the leeward mark. Personally, I like this course a lot because it emphasizes tactics and strategy, eliminates reaching parades (particularly in light and moderate air) and keeps the fleet closer together. But racing with a gate offers a whole new set of tactical and strategic challenges. It means you must make a choice about which mark to round, and…