October 2013

I’ve come full circle. I started out as a small kid, a “tot” as my Dad often referred to me, on a sandy beach with small boats. Now I am instructing small kids in small boats on a sandy beach.

Moving quickly to repair the 52-foot racer Magic after sustaining damage from Superstorm Sandy last fall.

It’s also time to be looking at ways for inshore race organizers to create a safer environment for their competitors. Most clubs have safety patrol boats for their regattas, particularly junior ones, and they should be lauded for their efforts.

Breakdowns happen, but we can minimize them with a little preventative maintenance.

No sailor on the Stamford Yacht Club lawn after this year’s Vineyard Race was prouder than Peter Becker, the chairman of the Junior Big Boat program at American Yacht Club in Rye, NY. Peter was the navigator on the winning boat, and among the eight young sailors aboard the J/122 Patriot were his 15-year-old son Key and daughter Carina, 14. “I was on a boat when I was probably a couple days old,” says Peter. “I’m the oldest…

Keep the red buoys on your right when returning and on your left when leaving. If the numbers are going up, you are returning. If the numbers are going down, you are leaving.

by JESSICA WURZBACHER, MSC A boater’s least favorite time of year is approaching…the weekend when you give up your aquatic existence and haul your boat out of the water, resigning to several land-locked months ahead. Boat Cleaning The forgotten bottom…probably the last thing on your mind as you enjoyed cocktails on a warm summer evening. Once your boat is hauled, cleaning is going to be one of your first tasks. Try to use natural cleaners, e.g. lime juice, borax…

Each fall, with the change in temperature, hundreds of boats complete long offshore passages to get to warmer climates for the Caribbean season.

An entire section of The United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD, running October 10 -14, “Vacation Basin” is designed to look and feel like paradise.