October 2019

One thing that very rarely happens at the WindCheck factory is a concern about what we are going to publish in a given month. And when it does appear that we might be a little light, by the first production meeting we are usually trying to figure out how to fit it all in. There is no lack of compelling stories going on in your Community, ever. Traditional. Professional. Goofy and Fun. It’s never ending! From the…

The Regatta Committee of the Essex Yacht Club in Essex, CT are pleased to announce the third and final Ocean Racing Forum for this year, Newport Bermuda Night, on Saturday, October 5. “Our speaker will be Sheila McCurdy, Past Commodore of the Cruising Club of America, who is an experienced ocean racer,” said Phil Dickey of the EYC Regatta Committee. “Commodore McCurdy will speak on behalf of the Newport Bermuda Race Organizing Committee and she will talk…

By Dave White, Sail Black Rock Program Director The ice cream shop on the boardwalk at Captain’s Cove Seaport in Bridgeport, CT has slowly woven itself into the fabric of Sail Black Rock, whose sailing classroom building is directly opposite. Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University sailing team members would often line up before and after FJ practices for delicious cones, thick shakes and occasionally, the classic, cherry-topped banana split. After a hot summer’s evening of Wednesday…

The Premiere Sailing League USA will debut its concept for an organized, national fleet racing league during the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD October 10-14. Modeled after the league in Europe that has taken off globally, the Premiere Sailing League USA (PSL) will supply a fleet of identical RS21 keelboats that will be raced on inshore, short course, stadium-style races at select venues across the country. Show attendees can experience firsthand the new RS21s in…

Before we divulge who is winning the first annual “WindCheck On The Hook Food Contest”, 1st prize being a sweet cutting board from Soundview Millworks, we are giving one last chance for entries. Send them to contactus@windcheckmagazine.com. While you are at it, sign up for our E-News to get early notice of the winners. You can do that at no cost to you at windcheckmagazine.com. ■

By Tom Darling Two classic Herreshoff designs, conceived Thanksgiving 1913 and born July 4, 1914. On August 18, 2019, they met on a racecourse for the first time in their sailing histories. This is the story of “The Herreshoff Twins,” a pair of Newport 29s named Dolphin and Mischief, and of their younger distant cousin, Rogue. The Twins are two of four Newport 29s, 35’ 6” overall, over eight tons displacement, and clouds of sail for inshore…

By David Seabrook   I’ve served on race committee for the Indian Harbor Yacht Club Classic Yacht Regatta on and off since 2012, but this year’s edition, on Saturday, September 14, was the first time I’ve noticed a hipster millennial among the competitors. With a long, square-cut beard and a rail-thin physique, he looked right out of Brooklyn central casting. What was he doing at a classic yacht regatta in Greenwich, CT? Maybe he’d come to celebrate…

By Rob Penner, 11th Hour Racing Team Communications Director Two-time Volvo Ocean Race participants Charlie Enright (Bristol, RI) and Mark Towill (Honolulu, HI), Co-Founders of 1 Degree, recently announced that they have formally renewed their team’s sponsorship with 11th Hour Racing for a long-term and visionary campaign, with their eyes set on the 2021-22 edition of “The Ocean Race” (formerly the Volvo Ocean Race). The team will be named “11th Hour Racing” after its title sponsor – Rhode…

By Meg Reilly, Co-skipper Ocean Racers On Wednesday, August 28, a group of curious offshore sailors gathered at the Essex Yacht Club in Essex, CT for the second installment of the Essex Ocean Racing Forum. The quarterly meeting fell on a stormy summer night, providing the perfect complement to the event’s subject matter. The crowd was filled with commodores, various club members, Newport Bermuda racers, and seasoned blue-water cruisers. Hundreds of thousands of ocean mile experiences were…

By Barby MacGowan, Media Pro International For a 15th year, the Ida Lewis Distance Race indulged competitive racing sailors in an overnight sprint that proved both challenging and extraordinary. Thirty-one teams, in five classes for boats of 28 feet and longer, set out after noontime on Friday, August 16 to engage in a 110-mile course that took them from the start off Fort Adams in Newport, RI, past Castle Hill to Buzzards Bay Tower, then to a mark southwest of Block…