Regattas

This past weekend, the Star Class World Championship ended in a riveting come-from-behind win for Americans George Szabo and Rick Peters of US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. Despite a discouraging “throw-away” first race (54 of 86 boats), Szabo and Peters persevered and sailed to victory in the second race, earning themselves the gold and the title of Star Class World Champions.“Back on the

With limited wind throughout the 101st Chicago to Mackinac race, many would consider it ordinary. Except perhaps the nine-member crew on Zoom, who made it extraordinary, by winning the Chicago Mackinac Trophy with a corrected time 55:09.53.“It was very satisfying,” said skipper Mike Newman. “It was a strange feeling. All we did was sail the boat. There was no

In May of 2007, a fledgling team called Puma Ocean Racing announced their intentions of competing in the 2008/2009 Volvo Ocean Race — a 37,000 mile round-the-world grudge match that’s fought out in the world’s fastest monohulls — in Boston, MA. As an attending journalist, I can report that while excitement ran high, expectations were fairly limited. Not because of the sponsor

In May of 2007, a fledgling team called Puma Ocean Racing announced their intentions of competing in the 2008/2009 Volvo Ocean Race — a 37,000 mile round-the-world grudge match that’s fought out in the world’s fastest monohulls — in Boston, MA. As an attending journalist, I can report that while excitement ran high, expectations were fairly limited. Not because of the sponsor

An incredible high-speed match race across the Atlantic between two maxi-trimarans has seen sailing records smashed again and again, with the boats finishing only minutes apart after nearly 3,000 miles of racing.Last week, the two French trimarans Banque Populaire V and Groupama 3 left New York within two hours of each other. They were out to break

Fiberglass, check; steel, check; carbon fiber, check; wood — uh, no, actually. So went my resume regarding the boats I’ve sailed. Okay, a few wooden Blue Jays and Lightnings as a kid, but for experience on proper wooden displacement boats, I had nothing. “Had” being the operative word. My eyes were opened to this fascinating subset of sailing at the 22nd-annual Panerai Antigua

From now until October 2nd, the city of Chicago will keep its fingers crossed, vying to become host to the 2016 Olympic Games. It’s currently one of four candidate cities, but the competition is tough. With the other three candidates hot on its heels, Chicago’s 2016 Bid Committee is hard at work showcasing what makes their city best-suited for the challenge, not the least

For Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) pundits the world over, this weekend was a mixed bag. On the upshot, the 2008/2009 VOR closed with fireworks for Telefonica Black, the Spanish flagged B-team skippered by Fernando Echavarri, who finally won their first leg victory in a nail-biter finish with Puma. The two VO70’s were mere boatlengths apart as the two sleds sprinted

The giant trimaran Banque Populaire V is on standby for an attempt to set a new record for the east-west transatlantic crossing under sail. Skipper Pascal Bidegorry and his crew of twelve are aiming to crack the existing record of 4 days, 3 hours, 57 minutes and 53 seconds for the 2,925 mile crossing between Lizard Point, England, and Ambrose Light, off New

“I haven’t been able to practice as much as I would have liked,” confessed Clay Burkhalter, of Stonington, Connecticut. “I’ve been really busy running my restaurant, and working on upgrades to my boat project. I haven’t been offshore too much recently.”The morning of the start of the Bermuda One-Two race (June 5) started cold and snotty, with about 10-12 knots of