The Atlantic Cup returns to the Eastern Seaboard this month, with seven Class 40 monohulls set to compete. As in years past the regatta will begin with a doublehanded offshore race from Charleston, South Carolina, to New York City on May 10, followed by another doublehanded offshore race from New York to Newport, Rhode Island. It will then conclude with a fully crewed inshore series May 24-25 on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. At stake is a $20,000 cash purse to be divided by the winners.
Among the competitors in this year’s fleet are a number of veterans from the first three Atlantic Cups, including Michael Hennessy and Rob Windsor aboard Dragon, Ed Cesare and Chad Corning aboard Pleaid Racing, Mike Dreese and Ken Luczynski aboard the brand-new Toothface II, veteran offshore sailor Joe Harris sailing with Patrick O’Connor aboard Gryphon Solo II, and rising American shorthanded sailor Jeff MacFarlane.
While in Newport, the Class 40 fleet will be sharing space at the Newport Shipyard with an Open 60 fleet preparing for the New York-Barcelona Race, set to jump off June 1. Be sure to swing by and check out these extraordinary racing machines.
The starting lines for the inshore series will once again be set up just off Fort Adams in Newport, affording race fans a front-row seat for the action. For details on both the fleet and course, visit atlanticcup.org
Photos courtesy of Billy Black/Atlantic Cup
