The Chesapeake Bay has become an increasingly popular destination for cruisers over the past few years with the development of more “main stream” charter companies throughout the area. The bay offers hundreds, if not thousands, of destinations for cruisers, with everything from quiet anchorages to the big city environments of Baltimore and Washington D.C. With hundreds of miles of coastline to explore and the ability to never visit the same place twice, it’s no shock that many leisure sailors have their sights set on the Ches...
The St. Thomas Yacht Club has a reputation of continually producing talented sailors over the past few decades. The tiny club is located on the East end of the island in Cowpet Bay, among the United States Virgin Islands. Sailors who have risen through the ranks at the club have gone on to achieve success internationally, in the worlds of both college and professional sailing. To name a few, Peter Holmberg, who is known for his America’s Cup career with Team Alinghi and his Maxi success, and Anthony Kotoun, a professional sailor who hold...
The 2010 Sperry Top-Sider Annapolis NOOD regatta was held in Annapolis, MD this past weekend, April 30th through May 2nd. The event was hosted by the Annapolis Yacht Club with race management assistance from the Eastport Yacht Club and the Severn Sailing Association. The event upheld its reputation as the largest of the NOOD regattas on the east coast with a total of 215 entries in 16 classes. The regatta also saw 8 total races in each class over three days of near perfect sailing conditions, with temperatures in the mid to upper 70s and a tra...
This past weekend, April 24th and 25th, MASSA, the Mid-Atlantic Scholastic Sailing Association, held their Team Racing Championships. The event was used to determine which teams would represent the region in the High School Team Racing National Championships for the Baker Trophy, to be held in Seattle, WA over the weekend of May 21st through the 23rd. The regatta was co-hosted by the Annapolis Yacht Club and the Severn Sailing Association, in Annapolis, MD and sailed in two fleets of 18 identical 420s. Each of the 12 teams competing in the eve...
The Mid-Atlantic Inter-Scholastic Sailing Association (MASSA) held their annual Fleet Race Championships over this past weekend, April 17th and 18th, at the Norfolk Yacht and Country Club in Norfolk, VA. The event is used as a qualifier for the region for the High School National Championships for the Mallory Trophy, to be held in Greenwich, CT over the weekend of May 7th through the 9th. Teams from around the MASSA region, which encompasses schools from New York to southern Virginia had to qualify for this event through their own league champ...
The 15th edition of Charleston Race Week took place early this month over April 8th through the 11th. With 184 entries registered in 15 classes and a total of 1500 sailors, this year’s Charleston Race Week was one of the largest in the history of the event. Since its founding in 1996 by the Charleston Ocean Racing Association (CORA), the event has continued to grow as a premier ocean racing event, serving as a pit-stop for racing yachts on their return trip north from the Florida winter racing circuit. Supported by the South Carolina Mar...
The College of Charleston, located in historic and scenic Charleston, SC, has been a power house in college sailing over the past few decades. With an ideal location on Charleston harbor, an extremely talented coaching staff, and very strong funding, it’s no wonder the college has been so successful. The weather conditions in Charleston, as well as the fact that the team trains on an open body of salt water, provides for year-round sailing, arguably giving them an advantage over many northern teams, whose venues may be iced over in the ea...
The summer dinghy team racing circuit is right around the corner and this year promises to be far more exciting and eventful than many previous years. With the addition of one new regatta to the schedule and the resurrection of a classic event in Boston, I know that several teams, including my own, are antsy to get the season started. Having sailed most of the events on the circuit with team Big Whoop!, I’ve assembled a highlight reel of each of the upcoming regattas. The first regatta on the schedule this year is the Charles River Team R...
With the summer sailing season in the northeast rapidly approaching, it’s time to begin thinking about your summer vacation plans. There are multiple spots to set off from in the northeast and literally thousands of small seaside towns and harbors to explore. With so many cruising destinations in New England to consider, planning a route and choosing which locations to visit can be somewhat overwhelming. However, if your plans are to cruise New England’s major islands, you are surely in store for an unforgettable experience. My rec...
If you’ve been thinking that you missed your chance to get south for the winter and do some Caribbean cruising, you couldn’t be more wrong. With lower air fares and cheaper charter agreements in the early and late spring, and into the summer, now is the time, more than ever to book your vacation. There is a plethora of charter companies in the Virgin Islands, offering both mono-hulls and catamarans and both captained and non-captained options. Cruising is also relatively hassle free as United States residents are able to come and g...
