Regattas

Not surprising that only 154 boats turned out for the 22nd edition of Key West Race Week, down from 261 boats in 2008. Still, the competition was high, especially amongst the Melges 24 (33 boats) and the Melges 32 (20 boats) fleets. While the grand-prix action was in IRC 1, it was IRC 2 that proved to be the most interesting handicap fleet to watch as it featured the U.S. racing premiere of the

Sherpas call Mount Everest Sagarmatha, “the mountain so high that no bird can fly over it”. Western sailors know the Vende Globe—a non-stop, solo, around-the-world race sailed on wildly powerful, lightweight 60-footers—as sailing’s Mount Everest. Study the attrition rate in this year’s race—19 of the original 30 boats dropped out, many in the stormy waters of the Southern Ocean—and you realize

On the 26th of March, two separate teams broke both the world water and land sailing speed records independently of each other.An Australian team sailing the Macquarie Innovation broke their own water speed record set last December at Sandy Point, Victoria, Australia and became the first vessel to complete the official 500m run with an average of over 50 knots. At Ivanpah Lake in

When the Volvo Ocean Race calls on Boston Harbor in May, every weekend sailor in the region will have a chance to sniff the air around a grand prix circus. So how did Boston “steal” the US stopover? We turned to the instigator, Bill Lynn of Marblehead, Massachusetts, an unassuming ace Etchells sailor and co-operator of Atlantis Weather Gear. He also has a background in

When the Volvo Ocean Race calls on Boston Harbor in May, every weekend sailor in the region will have a chance to sniff the air around a grand prix circus. So how did Boston “steal” the US stopover? We turned to the instigator, Bill Lynn of Marblehead, Massachusetts, an unassuming ace Etchells sailor and co-operator of Atlantis Weather Gear. He also has a background in

On the island of Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles, wind is the most important ingredient for spending a day on the world’s biggest landsailing track along the island’s northeast coast. The brightly colored sails of Blokarts poke at a blue sky as their tires spin madly over the hard. “Sailing” them is a blast. White dust whirs around the tubular cart with its skinny sail as you settle into a

Plenty of sailors dream of sailing around the world, but far fewer actually cast off and venture forth. Crystal Corthell, 18, of Rock Springs, Wyoming, is a young woman who enjoys snowmobiling, visiting with family, and dreaming big. Her sailing experiences to date have been limited to trips on Canada’s Ghost Lake, Nevada’s Lake Meade, and San Diego Bay aboard her family’s

US Sailing recently announced the names of the 2009 US Sailing Team Alphagrapics (USSTAG). This selection was based on the results of the 2009 Rolex Miami OCR. “We’re excited about the new team because we’ve never had this many Olympic and Paralympics sailors return this early in the quad, which is a sign we’re delivering more support to the sailors,” said Olympic Sailing Chairman Dean Brenner

Off the bow I could see Oklahoma. I looked over the stern, and yonder was Texas. Around me whitecaps were building on a special lake that splits the difference between two be-all, end-all rivals, and the name of that body of water says it all. Texoma. Mythology meets mixology.Surely you know the scripture: “Don’t mess with Texas.”Surely you know the Oklahoma

“Take your time, nice and slow,” said our captain ever time anybody stepped on the dinghy, and it soon became the motto of Bonac Witch, a Moorings 4300 catamaran that served as one of the spectator boats for the 24th annual Highland Spring HIHO Regatta in the British Virgin Islands. For my girlfriend, Taylor, and me, taking it nice and slow was exactly what we