The American Yacht Club hosted its 46th annual Spring Regatta, running a coastal race on May 2nd and both coastal and winward/leeward racing on May 3rd and 4th. Wind conditions kept the sailors on their toes. On both Friday and Saturday, the wind clocked around completely, providing the remarkable
It's been a productive start to 2025 for Peter Duncan in the J/70 in his boat Relative Obscurity. First they won Event #2 of the Bacardi Invitational Winter Series (they didn't participate in Event #1) in January against 41 boats, then they won the Bacardi
Every new year, we look forward to the bright bursts of daffodils and the fast-fading blush of cherry blossoms, but the turn of the season also marks a busy rush to get the bigger boats in the water just in time for the American Yacht Club's Spring Regatta
If you’re wondering who was wild enough to be out kite boarding in the middle of Long Island Sound about four weeks ago, when the temperature was 25 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind was blowing a steady 40 knots with gusts up to 50, you can wonder no more.
Following an impressive second place finish in the College Sailing Match Race Nationals last month, we took the opportunity to catch up with AYC member Katherine McNamara. Katherine is in her Junior year at Brown University. She grew up sailing at AYC and fondly remembers her many JAYC summers, as
Daniel Escudero has chalked up quite a 2024, which combined disappointment at the US Olympic trials along with major victories at events like ILCA North Americans and most recently winning college nationals in the ILCA 7. He also recently became a member of the American Yacht Club. We caught up
This past Labor Day, Maddy Ploch joined the team of Patriot to race in the Annapolis J/105 Women's Regatta. They won the regatta with a bullet and two seconds. We took the opportunity to catch up with Maddie about her experience. Bell 42: Congratulations on your victory
When you try to imagine the life of a professional sailor, what do you picture? Long stretches of time riding an ocean swell? Moments of fast action crossing a super-maxi at the start of the Sydney-Hobart? While the job differs depending on the boat and program, we took a peek
American Yacht Club's Friday Night Sunset Series is a cherished event for sailing and non-sailing members alike. Held weekly on Friday nights during the summer sailing season, this year’s Series once again combined competitive racing, fun with family and friends, and the picturesque beauty of sunsets on
In the wake of her being named Seahorse Magazine's August sailor of the month, we took the opportunity to catch up with AYC member Michelle Lahrkamp. Michelle is wrapping up an incredible stretch of sailing at Stamford University. Among her many accomplishments, she helped (with sister Vanessa!) Stamford
This year's Bermuda Short-Handed Return race saw AYC/NYYC members Peter Becker and Will McKeige winning their respective classes (results). Peter raced Young American, a J/105, with his daughter Carena Becker, and Will was on Groupe 5, a Figaro 2, with Zach Doerr. Along the way, they
American Yacht Club was strongly represented in this year's Newport-Bermuda race, with Cougar, Inisharon, Scylla, Young American, and ZIG ZAG all in the running. It was a challenging race right from the get-go, with competitive starts into a failing wind and then a building southerly. One boat, Alliance,
It might feel odd to read about Frostbiting in the middle of summer, but given that our season runs almost half of the year, we actually sail some warm, sunny days too. Still, “frostbiting” sounds so dramatic, doesn’t it? Before we know it, we’ll be in a new
The 15th Annual Robie Pierce Regatta ran from May 30th to June 2nd. 17 boats hit the starting line for the open regatta and 4 boats raced in Thursday's women’s regatta. Skipper Eric Rose, along with crew Dalina Delfing and Richard Jaffe, won the open regatta (results)
A decade ago, Patrick and Melissa Schoonveld set their sights on a truly YOLO project: to live on a boat for a year. Being planners at heart, they started saving and steadily chipping away at making their dream a reality. In 2019, they bought their boat Oestara, a 2005 Sweden
The 2024 American Yacht Club Spring Regatta wrapped up 3 solid days of sailing on May 3-5, with the Friday coastal race leading into the weekend's mix of windward-leeward and coastal courses. (see all photos) On Friday May 3rd, 5 classes of boats (ORC, PHRF 1-3, and PHRF
As we reported a few weeks ago, Jean-Yves Fillion won the 2024 ILCA Masters Midwinters East across all ILCA 6 divisions and came in second overall at the Palm Beach Florida Master. We caught up with him to discuss the events. Bell 42: Tell us about the two events JYF:
AYC member Austen Freda recently wrapped up a stint as assistant sailing coach at Tufts and work brought him back to the local area. He has been generous enough to take over leadership of AYC’s team racing effort. Bell 42 caught up with him to learn a bit about
The recent 2024 i420 Midwinters West regatta hosted 23 boats all vying for a qualifying spot to Youth Worlds, which will be held later this summer on Lake Garda. Three talented JAYC sailors were on the water: Estella Morris, Glen Foster, and Melanie Lahrkamp. After four days of tight racing,
Andrew Clark's J/122 ZIG ZAG has been tearing up the 2023-24 SORC Islands in the Stream ocean racing series. They kicked it off taking first in class, 3rd overall, in the Nov 8th St. Pete to Fort Lauderdale Race. Then they took first in class, 6th overall,
For the second year in a row, Jean-Yves Fillion put on a masterful display of sailing in the Florida masters laser races. He won the 2024 ILCA Masters Midwinters East regatta (held Feb 27-Mar 1) across all ILCA6 divisions and came in second overall for the ILCA 6 at the
The 2024 Spring Regatta is once again coming to the Long Island Sound hosted out of the American Yacht Club (sign up on Yachtscoring). It will be a 3-day affair, with a Friday coastal race on May 3rd and then the 2-day Spring Series on May 4th and 5th offering
We've had a tremendous season of frostbiting so far, which starts at the beginning of November and goes to the beginning of April. Only 4 official days of racing remain before the Cold Shoulder series begins. So far, we've had 13 days of racing with 66
In mid February, 24 teams of women converged on San Diego Yacht Club to participate in the 2024 Women's Winter Invitational. The format was short-course, non-spinnaker racing in J/22s. American Yacht Club sent a 3-women team of Laura Heiss (skipper), Carolyn Russell, and Lisl Dunlop. The courses