Mid-July is when both races to Mackinac Island, Michigan—one from Port Huron, MI and one from Chicago, IL—take place. Held on alternating weekends, these two races comprise some of the longest freshwater sailing races in the world and are significant tests of the sailors and boats that participate. This year, 196 entries made the start…
The Fallacy of Cost: Sailboat racing is often blamed for being too expensive. Yes, it can be, but it doesn’t always have to be. Looking at the fleet at the CanAm this past weekend, we see numerous boats that are between 20-40 years old, including many of the winners. These boats can be purchased quite inexpensively. Some have…
The CanAm Regatta, successor to the famous Youngstown Level, was held last weekend at Youngstown YC. This year’s event marked the 50th time that YYC has held a regatta at the end of July. The first 40 were the famous Level (if you were here for any of those days you would know why we used the…
Twenty boats participated in the 2nd Annual Firecracker Regatta this past weekend at the Rochester Yacht Club. Designed by Reichel/Pugh and built by Melges, the Melges 15 prioritizes stability, comfort, ease of use, and performance. With the main design goals focused on stability and performance in a variety of conditions, the boat features a narrow overall…
The Sandusky Sailing Club recently hosted the 2023 Snipe National Championships. It was filled with five days of sailing, along with good fellowship on land after the races. As Commodore, I had the honor of welcoming the class to the club. A club that is proud to be celebrating 90 years of existence with its main…
We are in a world where everything seems to be bigger, better, more of this, more of that. Event planners need to avoid the “same old, same old” if they want to maintain, and hopefully grow, their regatta or other event. Here are a few ideas for a successful activity that you might try in your…
Mid-June on Lake St. Clair marks the annual Canadian Club Regatta, hosted by Windsor Yacht Club. The race is a medium distance nighttime affair that stretches from WYC at the mouth of the Detroit River, north and slightly west to the Point Huron lighted buoy, then back toward WYC for a total of 30.5 nm. …
Our Back Cove 37 Essential had a very good winter in Windmill Harbor Marina on Hilton Head Island and so did Donna and I. But the time has come to move north for two reasons—to get her closer to the Erie Canal to get back to Rochester, and to not to rub up against the…