More newcomers sail in Newport Bermuda Race
Aug 06, 2010 12:00 amThe 2010 Newport Bermuda Race concluded on June 23 with a total of 183 yachts officially competing. Thirty percent of the fleet were first timers, a larger group than in the recent past when new competitors made up anywhere from 20 to 25 percent of the racers. Ten classes of yachts sailed in the St. David’s Lighthouse and Gibbs Hill Lighthouse divisions and were scored under IRC and/or ORR rules while 38 competed in the Cruiser Division, 26 in the Double-Handed Division and three in the Open-Division under ORR rules.
Estrela returns after six and a half years of voyaging
Aug 06, 2010 12:00 amIn November 2003, Douglas and Kyle Hopkins and their daughters Eliza, 9, and Abigail, 12, left Long Island Sound for what was to have been a two-year voyage around the world aboard their 32-foot sailboat, Estrela.
Madman across the water – 1,152 days at sea
Aug 06, 2010 12:00 amOn many levels Reid Stowe’s recently completed non-stop 1,152-day ocean passage must command the respect of any serious bluewater sailor. For the first 306 days it was just him and one inexperienced female photographer, Soanya Ahmad, wrangling his heavy 70-foot gaff-rigged schooner Anne through the South Atlantic and across the Southern Ocean. The rest of the time (after Ahmad got off the boat 11 miles off Western Australia due to incipient nausea) it was Stowe sailing all by himself.
Missing chronometer sold at auction
Jun 18, 2010 12:00 amAlfred University in western New York state is hoping to recover a 19th century marine chronometer that once served its campus observatory to time the meridian transits of stars. The chronometer was built in 1840 by instrument maker Bliss & Creighton of New York and mysteriously vanished from the university sometime after World War II and turned up for sale in a Christie’s auction catalogue in 1990. The auction house sold the chronometer in New York for $2,420.
Sarasota to Havana regatta planned
Mar 02, 2010 12:00 am
The Sarasota Yacht Club (SYC) is hoping to restore a 70-year-old international tradition with an offshore yacht race to Havana &mdash the Regatta Castillo del Morro. The invitation to race comes from Jose Escrich, commodore of the Hemingway International Yacht Club and the Cuban Sailing Federation.
Cruising Club sponsors Safe Offshore Sailing weekend
Mar 02, 2010 12:00 am
The Cruising Club of America is sponsoring a public safety-at-sea seminar over the weekend of March 13-14. The seminar, called Safe Offshore Sailing will be held at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Newport, R.I., and will meet requirements for this year's Newport Bermuda Race which begins on June 18.
Ocean Watch completes NOAA buoy deployment
Mar 02, 2010 12:00 am
One of eight scientific projects planned for their 13-month expedition around the Americas, the crew of Ocean Watch successfully deployed three NOAA Global Drifter Program buoys. The buoys are the key components in the International Arctic Buoy Program (IABP) and coordinated by Dr.
Solar orb to power PlanetSolar around globe
Mar 02, 2010 12:00 am
If all goes according to plan, PlanetSolar, the world's largest and fastest 100 percent solar-powered boat, will begin sailing this summer. Conceived by Swiss engineer Raphaël Domjan, the 98.5-foot futuristic catamaran is also planning to become the fastest solar-powered vessel to circumnavigate the globe. The voyage will travel from east to west and follow an equatorial route.
Youngest rower will attempt Atlantic crossing
Mar 02, 2010 12:00 am
If all goes according to plan, 22-year-old Cleveland, Ohio, native Katie Spotz will be the youngest person to row the Atlantic and the first American to row from Africa to South America. An endurance athlete with a long list of accomplishments, Spotz has run marathons, cycled across the U.S. and is the first person to swim all 325 miles of the Allegheny River.
Fortier photo archive to museum
Mar 02, 2010 12:00 am
More than 100,000 negatives belonging to renowned marine photographer Norman Fortier are now part of the permanent collection of the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts.