The 2023 Maui Strong Aloha Classic is confirmed! This will be the Grand Final of the Unified PWA IWT Wave Tour.
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Cup Spy August 18: Good times return for testing
Saturday
Aug 19
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 19
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Two America’s Cup Challengers sailed on Friday in good testing conditions off Cagliari and Barcelona. Both sailed their custom designed test boats…
Sail for Hope to benefit Maui victims
Friday
Aug 18
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 18
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Sail Newport and organizers of the annual Sail for Hope on Saturday, September 30, have announced that the sailboat race will raise funds to help the victims of the Maui wildfires. The catastrophic fires on the Hawaiian island are said to be the deadliest in the U.S. in over a century.
“The need is immense in Maui, and because we have the opportunity to help relieve some of the human suffering, we’re going to do all we can to raise emergency funding for food, from one island community to another,” says Brad Read, executive director, Sail Newport.
Organizers will send the donations to the nonprofit organization Maul Food Bank (MFB). MFB is working round the clock to relieve hunger in the devastated community.
Sailboats 22′ and larger are invited to enter the race around Jamestown. Powerboats are also welcome to join the flotilla that starts outside Newport Harbor and makes an 18-mile circumnavigation of Conanicut Island.
Racing begins at 11 a.m. outside of Newport Harbor. Racing sailboat classes include multiple PHRF Spinnaker, PHRF Non-Spinnaker, Multi-Hull, and the Sail Newport J/22 One-Design Class.
Racers and non-Racing vessels are encouraged to participate. Sail Newport emphasizes that although it’s a race, all sailboats are welcome to join or cruise around the island in a show of support for Maui. Sail Newport will assign a Narragansett Bay rating for boats that do not normally race who wish to enter a scored class.
In addition to donations, financial support for the Maui Food Bank will also be derived from the net of race entry fees, social tickets, bar income, and merchandise sales.
Sailors will be encouraged to raise funds from their friends, neighbors, family and businesses to donate on behalf of their boat entry. An annual award for the top fundraising boat will be presented after the race.
“This race is about helping others who are in need of the basics of life,” Read adds.
A social will be held after racing at the Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard. Sailors and crew are invited, and guests may purchase a wristband to be available online at sailnewport.org
The event was first sailed in 2001, following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in the skies over Pennsylvania, when a few local sailing enthusiasts quickly responded by organizing a race to honor and support those affected. The first Sail for Pride around Conanicut Island rallied over 180 boats and raised $110,000 to support the NYFD firefighters and NYPD widows’ and childrens’ funds and the victims of the attacks and their families.
The display of patriotism and generosity on and off the water made a lasting impression on the sailing community. After the inaugural year, the organizers retired the name Sail for Pride but continued the event as Sail For Hope, reflecting the Rhode Island state motto of “Hope.” Their mission then became an annual tradition held to support the nonprofit community and those they serve.
Charities supported over the past 22 years include Seamen’s Church Institute, Newport Harbormaster’s Emergency Equipment Fund, The Rhode Island Red Cross, New Orleans Hurricane Katrina, Bahamas Hurricane Dorian, emergency assistance to active duty families, Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center (Newport), Wounded Warriors, R.I. Frontline Food for COVID medical workers, Seamen’s Church Institute, local public high school sailing teams, U.S. Olympic Sailing Trials, The Wounded Warriors Project, World Central Kitchen and Save the Children for Ukraine aid, the Warrior Sailing Program, Sail Newport’s Timothy J. Mills Financial Aid Fund and many others.
HOW TO DONATE
Online:
https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/38720/donations/new
In-Person
Donations accepted in person (checks written directly to “Maui Food Bank”) or walk-in credit card donations:
Sail Newport, Rhode Island’s Public Sailing Center
72 Fort Adams Dr., Newport, RI. 02840
Tel. (401) 846-1983
Sail Newport is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization
BECOME INVOLVED
Sail – All sailboats 22′ and over are welcome, even if you’re not an avid racer!
Register your sailboat: https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=16178
Get a rating for your sailboat: gary.knapp@sailnewport.org
Powerboat or cruise around the Island with the Flotilla
Tell us you’re cruising around the island on a powerboat or sailboat: gary.knapp@sailnewport.org
The Maui Food Bank (MFB) was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1994. MFB is working round the clock to relieve hunger resulting from the catastrophic Maui wildfires. The Maui Food Bank is the only nonprofit in Maui County that collects, warehouses and distributes mass quantities of perishable and nonperishable food items to those in need. Visit mauifoodbank.org
CONTACTS
Donation Contact: eve.formisano@sailnewport.org
Media Contact: kim.cooper@sailnewport.org
Regatta Contact: gary.knapp@sailnewport.org
Van Den Heede on the great departure ahead for GSC
Wednesday
Aug 16
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 16
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Behind the scenes of the Global Solo Challenge, we meet a true old salt, the famous French solo navigator Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, who offers his valuable advice and support to many skippers…
Hobie 18 North American Championships
Wednesday
Aug 16
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 16
2023
Posted by XS Editor
The 2023 Hobie 18 and Hobie 17 North American Championship was held from 31st July to 4th August at Lake Quinault in the Olympic National Park about 3 hours east of Seattle in Washington state, USA…
VIDEO: 2023 RC44 World Championship
Monday
Aug 14
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 14
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Highlights from the 2023 RC44 World Championship which attracted nine teams representing six countries on August 9-13 in Cowes, UK.
Australian sailors at Allianz Sailing Worlds day 3
Sunday
Aug 13
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 13
2023
Posted by XS Editor
The breeze was on again at the 2023 Sailing World Championships in The Hague, with seven Australian teams across the Skiff and Nacra 17 classes finding their way into Gold Fleet racing at the conclusion of their qualifying series…
We are Lahaina Strong
Sunday
Aug 13
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 13
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui have killed over 90 people, and that number keeps increasing. More than 250 buildings in historic Lahaina Town have been destroyed which includes Lahaina Yacht Club on Front Street.
The fires started August 8 and fanned out across the island, growing in size and destructive power. It became national news as Hawaii declared a state of emergency on August 9, with aerial video showing the devastation.
As the co-host of the biennial Victoria to Maui International Yacht Race, Lahaina Yacht Club has welcomed been home to members and visitors since 1965. Here is a message from LYC Commodore Dave Schubert:
I write this with pure sorrow. Our beloved Lahaina Yacht Club and Lahaina Town has been devastated. The entire town of Lahaina and our home is gone and now just ash and rubble. What you are seeing in the news is probably accurate but just a small part of our reality. No power, water, etc… but we are an amazing community.
The people here are resilient. I have received many emails from reciprocal clubs across the country offering support and I want to assure that we will strive to rebuild, rebound, and come back better. We love and appreciate all of the heartfelt sentiments and support across the country.
To those amazing Commodores sharing such respect and support, I will absolutely share those caring messages after I get my/our lack of housing in check. To date quite a few of us Commodores, Past Commodores, and Board Members are now without homes. I do ultimately believe it will take all of us to be involved in rebuilding and all will commit to our future commitment to LYC.
Without hesitation, I am far more afraid for our general membership and their well-being. This town has so many amazing people. We are Lahaina Strong and most importantly we need to look out for the health and well-being of our families, friends, and membership and all those we love.
I hope this all makes sense. I am shedding tears as I write it. Lahaina Yacht Club and our strength has always been our family approach, our strength at its finest. Love and support to Lahaina and LYC.
To read the comments from this post on Facebook, click here.
To make a purchase from the LYC store, click here.
Tragedy in Lahaina
Thursday
Aug 10
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 10
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Amid the death and destruction due to wildfires in Maui, aerial video show the town of Lahaina having suffered significant damage, which includes Lahaina Yacht Club on Front Street and nearby Lahaina Harbor. Lahaina Town is a historic whaling village and tourism hotspot in Maui, Hawaii.
Cup Spy August 9: Three test alone in Barcelona
Thursday
Aug 10
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 10
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Three teams opted to sail for a second successive day in Barcelona. However two of those suffered breakdowns on one AC40, reducing their sessions to one-boat practice/testing only…
As the Earth hurtles headfirst
Thursday
Aug 10
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 10
2023
Posted by XS Editor
To paraphrase John Masefield’s poem ‘Sea Fever’, having a star to steer by is helpful for a night passage, but as George Day reports in the Cruising Compass, we will want to sit still for this sky show:
Here we are again in the middle of August and, hopefully, you are getting Cruising Compass on your boat while anchored in a lovely quiet cove. And, with luck, you will have an unobstructed view of the night sky and very little ambient light from civilization ashore. That’s because the middle of August is when the Earth sails through the interplanetary debris field left by the huge comet Swift-Tuttle (click here); comets, apparently, are terrible litter bugs.
As the earth passes through the debris field, particles the size of large rocks enter the atmosphere at high speed and burn up creating shooting stars with long glowing tails. The best time to catch this summer’s shooting stars will be on August 12 and 13, just before the new moon when the sky is at its darkest. Between midnight and dawn, as the Earth hurtles headfirst into the debris, you can see as many a 100 shooting stars an hour.
It is known as the Perseid Meteor shower because the shooting stars seem to emit from the constellation Perseus. If you have never witnessed a meteor shower, it is a show of celestial fireworks worth staying up for. To read more on The Planetary Society’s website, click here.
Cup Spy August 8: Full fleet sails in Barcelona
Wednesday
Aug 09
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 09
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Five teams sailed on Tuesday in another seabreeze but lighter than the previous day. Two teams sailed AC75’s, two in AC40 combinations, and one in a custom design 12metre long test boat…
Bringing back the past to the present
Wednesday
Aug 09
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 09
2023
Posted by XS Editor
During the 37th America’s Cup Challenger Selection Series in 2024, up to 25 12 Metres are anticipated for racing on September 4-7 in Barcelona, Spain. The 17th Regata Puig Vela Clàssica will be run by the Real Club Nàutic de Barcelona with the yachts moored at the RCNB’s marina in the heart of the America’s Cup Village.
“We enjoyed hosting the fleet back in 2014, on the 7th edition of the regatta, and look forward to welcoming the 12 Metre family again in 2024 where the contrast between the displacement era and the new era of foiling vessels will be a stunning backdrop for the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona,” said Jordi Puig, President of the Real Club Nàutic de Barcelona.
The 12 Metre Class can trace its history back to the early 1900s when they were used in the 1908, 1912, and 1920 Olympic Games. The class was introduced to the America’s Cup in 1958 by the holders at the time, the New York Yacht Club, following the cessation of the competition during the period of World War II.
The ‘Golden Era’ of the enormous J-Class yachts that had last competed for the Cup in 1937 was over, as harsh post-war economic times precluded the building and campaigning of these vessels.
The New York Yacht Club recognized the desire for a smaller and more cost-effective class to re-start the competition and the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes agreed, sending the David Boyd designed Sceptre to face the Olin Stephens designed Columbia in 1958.
The Americans successfully defended eight times in the Match against challengers from Britain and Australia through to 1983 when finally, the longest winning streak in sports history was ended by the radical winged-keel yacht Australia II helmed by John Bertrand and designed by the genius of Ben Lexcen.
The Cup was taken to Fremantle Western Australia for what would be the final time that 12 Metres competed for the trophy in a memorable regatta with the big seas and winds of Gage Roads as the Australian Kookaburra III Task Force Syndicate lost to Dennis Conner’s Stars ‘n’ Stripes ‘87 after a thrilling series that catapulted the America’s Cup into the mainstream.
The 12 Metre fleet was eventually replaced by the IACC class after the Deed of Gift Match in 1988 but they were anything but forgotten and fleets have sprung up most notably in North America and in both North and Southern Europe ever since, with owners restoring and updating the beautiful yachts with modern technology.
“In many people’s minds, the era of the 12 Metre Class in the America’s Cup was what inspired their interest in the event,” noted Grant Dalton, CEO of America’s Cup Events.
“The 12 Metres will provide a lot of interest, and as always, their racing will be incredibly tight. We’re looking forward to seeing the boats and for the sailors to enjoy the unique atmosphere that is building in Barcelona.”
Source: ACE
Kudos to US Sailing for this pivot
Tuesday
Aug 08
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 08
2023
Posted by XS Editor
by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
The problem with historic perpetual trophies is what to do when their events lose relevancy. That was the reality for US Sailing, as the growth of nationally organized age-based boats and class competition had thrown shade on some of the organization’s once iconic youth championships.
So it was in March 2023 when US Sailing revealed the revamp, but through all the event changes, the oldest of them all remained in place. Dating back to 1921, the Sears Cup for triplehanded competition was more important today than ever as it exposed kids to life beyond the doublehanded dinghies they’d soon age out of…
Eight Bells: Donald J. Matthews
Tuesday
Aug 08
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 08
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Donald J. Matthews
Donald J. Matthews, a remarkable man of integrity, generosity, and unwavering faith, died peacefully on June 5th, at the age of 89, in Thousand Oaks, CA.
Don was born in 1933, the son of Captain John N. Matthews and Dorothy Webb Matthews, and brother to John, Robert, Richard, Jane, and Lucille. He grew up on Centre Island, Oyster Bay, NY where he developed his passion for sailing at Seawanhaka Yacht Club.
He graduated from Georgetown Prep in 1951 and the University of Notre Dame in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in business where he also captained the sailing team. In 1956, Don married Cynthia Hackney and together they raised four children in Rye, NY.
Don was an accomplished sailor who co-skippered two America’s Cup yachts – Vim, the family-owned 12 Metre, which narrowly lost out in races to select the New York Yacht Club’s defender in 1958, and Weatherly, which won the America’s Cup in 1962. He was one of the longest standing members of the New York Yacht Club having joined in 1956…
12 Metre Worlds – Challenge XII and Columbia are 2023 World Champions
Tuesday
Aug 08
2023
Posted by deleteme
Aug 08
2023
Posted by deleteme
Challenge XII and Columbia Become Two-Time World Champions at the 12 Metre 2023 World Championship…
what is second?
Tuesday
Aug 08
2023
Posted by deleteme
Aug 08
2023
Posted by deleteme
A second-place finish, four hours and 40 minutes on corrected time in the 2022 Chicago Mac double-handed section, didn’t sit well with Ted Lockwood and Justin Ackler. Winter preparations put them on the right path.
“We took care of the critical components with electronics,” said Justin Ackler. “We ran different routes and paid attention to how the software works and predicting wind routing.” Lockwood, who completed his first Mac in 1970, recalled Ned Lockwood’s words: “My Dad would say, ‘Teddy, it’s not the first two or three things, it’s the 95 things you do prior to going out and preparing the boat that makes you win.”
Moving ahead of their four-boat section was the difference as their J88, McQueen, set the pace pulling into Mackinac Harbor at 2:39:44 Monday, July 25, 2023. Their elapsed time was 2:03:39:44 just ahead of Exile 2:03:45:36. The corrected time was 2:03:36:56. Exile, sailed by Andy Graff and Scott Eisenhardt, was 2:04:02:22. 10-16 miles an hour southeast winds, propelled McQueen towards the shoreline near the Wisconsin border. Around 5 p.m., winds and waves shifted from the northwest.
From midnight to 5 a.m., it blew 20 knots. “We put our kite up,” said Lockwood, a resident of Traverse City, MI. “You couldn’t see the waves in the dark, but we were surfing three-six-foot waves and burying the bow doing 11-13 knots…”
nothing’s easy
Tuesday
Aug 08
2023
Posted by deleteme
Aug 08
2023
Posted by deleteme
In this second day of racing at the 2023 ORC World Championship, the persistent low-pressure center in southern Scandinavia continued to drive strong westerly winds in the Kieler Bucht. Accordingly, race managers from Kieler Yacht Club set a coastal course for Classes B and C with early leaders emerging in these classes after two races.
An unfortunate secondary effect of these strong westerly winds was to drive water in the Kieler Bucht to the east, thus lowering water levels in the west, and causing the deep draft entries in Class A to remain at their slips at the venue in Schilksee Harbor due to a lack of depth to allow them to leave the marina.
Nonetheless, at wind speeds of 20-30 knots today’s conditions were brisk but quite raceable from start in the inner Kiel fiord out to the same mark as yesterday at the mouth of the Eckernfiord, and return to the finish in front of Schilksee.
Cup Spy August 4-5: Seabreeze sailing
Sunday
Aug 06
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 06
2023
Posted by XS Editor
The five teams based in Barcelona have enjoyed seabreeze sailing, and are learning how to foil with “off-axis” swells. Sailing conditions have followed a pattern, but various issues have stopped some teams from gaining the full benefit…
Capsize of the racing yacht Nexba
Sunday
Aug 06
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 06
2023
Posted by XS Editor
It was over a year ago when Farr X2 hull #1, which was the newest project by Farr Yacht Design to serve the short-handed market, capsized offshore when its keel attachment failed off southeastern Australia. After 14 hours of clinging to the upturned hull of Nexba, the two crew were safely rescued.
Keel failures had become a disturbing trend, so much so that World Sailing had enacted new regulations requiring inspections. Following the incident, the yacht’s home club – Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club – formed a Review Working Party to investigate and provide an account of the circumstances relating to the capsize of the yacht and the sailors’ survival.
“There are findings in this report that will have an impact on safety in sailing and may indeed save a life one day,” said Australian Sailing President, Alistair Murray AM.
The 33-page report is now publicly available, and while it did not investigate the potential cause(s) of the keel loss, it does detail how a seemingly well-prepared boat with an experienced crew can incur a life-threatening accident. To read the report, click here.
British Moth Nationals at Hollowell
Saturday
Aug 05
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 05
2023
Posted by XS Editor
The British Moth Nationals were held at a new venue for them on the 2nd to 4th August 2023. Hollowell Sailing Club were exceptionally welcoming hosts & opened the club the afternoon before the championship started to allow drop off and camping…
Firefly Nationals 2023 Runners and Riders
Saturday
Aug 05
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 05
2023
Posted by XS Editor
There’s just under a week to go until the Firefly Nationals at Felixstowe Ferry (12-18th August 2023) the first semi accurate forecasts are in and the local breweries are putting in double shifts to stock up in time for the impending Firefly invasion…
Historic Thunderbird Sailboats #1 and #2
Saturday
Aug 05
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 05
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Thunderbird #1, launched in November of 1958 and known as Number 1 or Thunderbird, and Thunderbird #2, named Pirouette and launched in August of 1959…
Cup Spy August 3: Super seastate hits Barcelona
Friday
Aug 04
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 04
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Two teams had an interesting work out in the worst sea state since the teams began assembling on July 1, for a four month period, which coincides with the period in which the 2024 America’s Cup will be sailed in 12 months starting on August 12, 2024…
12 Metre World Championship: At the Halfway Mark, Challenger XII and Columbia lead
Friday
Aug 04
2023
Posted by deleteme
Aug 04
2023
Posted by deleteme
With six races under their sailing belts, the 12 Metre sailors in Newport, Rhode Island for the 12 Metre World Championship are more than halfway through their nine-race series…
looking forward
Friday
Aug 04
2023
Posted by deleteme
Aug 04
2023
Posted by deleteme
Big Pimpin’
A new semi-custom racer from Judel/Vrolijk and Oceantec takes the Class40 concept back to its roots… with an extensively optimized IRC rating and a super-lightweight interior.
Class40 has moved on from its initial concept. What started as a class offering shorthanded offshore racing for top-tier amateur sailors on moderate budgets has morphed into a very successful class of completely stripped-out racing machines, campaigned with serious money, whose primary function is to provide a stepping stone for professional solo sailors en route to rock star status in Imoca 60s.
So where do you go if you want a boat that truly reflects the original spirit of Class40, with the same level of performance as the top boats in that fleet, but also a competitive IRC rating plus the bare minimum of accommodation for weekend cruising with family and friends?
Two experienced Class40 racers couldn’t find anything quite like that so they asked Judel/Vrolijk to design it for them. Read on.
29er World Championships – Anton and Johann Sach take lead into final day
Thursday
Aug 03
2023
Posted by deleteme
Aug 03
2023
Posted by deleteme
The 29er World Championships at the WPNSA was back in action Thursday with the first racing for the Final Series…
Bet on the Tortoise over the Hare
Wednesday
Aug 02
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Aug 02
2023
Posted by XS Editor
The problem with really fast boats is when they hit something, it can be game over, which is what occurred when the 121-foot trimaran Sails of Change tried to set a new transatlantic record from New York to Great Britain.
A collision with an unidentified floating object on the first night broke their port rudder, which made for naught all the preparation and cost for what is the largest ocean-racing trimaran which, by the way, had previously set the record this new effort was trying to break.
There are a lot of obstacles in that first day off the coast of the USA, but perhaps a separate effort by Jay Thompson to break the same record will have more luck as his boat of choice is the Mini 6.50 and he is merely seeking to establish a new small boat Atlantic crossing record. – Full report
56th Governor’s Cup at Balboa Yacht Club overall
Sunday
Jul 30
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Jul 30
2023
Posted by XS Editor
The last day of the Governor’s Cup is always filled with tension and excitement. The day began with the continuation of yesterday’s semi-final races and the sail-offs for the rest of the of the rankings…
Mirror World Championship – Ben and Keira McGrane take 2023 Title
Sunday
Jul 30
2023
Posted by deleteme
Jul 30
2023
Posted by deleteme
Ben and Keira McGrane dominated the Mirror 2023 World Championships hosted at Sligo Yacht Club…
Cup Spy July 25: Fresh winds test teams
Wednesday
Jul 26
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Jul 26
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Dramatic day for Italians and Kiwis, with the Italians executing a low speed capsize in a fresh breeze. In Barcelona, Emirates Team New Zealand was the only team to sail in a fresh breeze recorded as gusting over 20kts…
Lawson’s trimaran capsized off Mexico
Wednesday
Jul 26
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Jul 26
2023
Posted by XS Editor
(July 26, 2023) – The family of missing sailor Donald Lawson reports a vessel found capsized off the coast of Mexico is, indeed, Defiant, Lawson’s 60-foot racing trimaran.
The U.S. Coast Guard informed Jacqueline Lawson, Donald’s wife, that the Mexican Navy was on the scene. Jacqueline positively identified the vessel as Defiant.
A U.S. Coast Guard Cutter has been dispatched to help in searching for the missing sailor from Baltimore, MD and is en route, 150 nautical miles out from the location.
The Coast Guard told Jacqueline yesterday that a vessel was found 315 nautical miles south/southwest of Acapulco.
Lawson had left Acapulco on July 5, 2023, singlehanding the ORMA 60 bound for the Panama Canal and ultimately Baltimore to prepare for a single-handed round the world record attempt this fall.
He communicated on July 9 that he had been experiencing problems with his hydraulic rigging and was without engine power, relying solely on a wind generator. But when he lost his wind generator due to a storm on July 12, he decided to return to Acapulco but contact was lost later that day.
Following a proclamation in June 2020 that he’d identified 12 records held by the World Sailing Speed Record Council that he planned to break, Lawson bought the ORMA 60 in April 2022 to pursue this initiative.
However, equipment issues and accidents marred his ownership of the boat which delayed his record-setting pursuits of which none were ever achieved.
Gunboat 72 set for the Cannes Yachting Festival
Wednesday
Jul 26
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Jul 26
2023
Posted by XS Editor
We’re pleased to announce the Gunboat 72 will be on display in Port Canto Sailing Area of the 2023 Cannes Yachting Festival…
Rolex Fastnet Race: New record for François Gabart
Monday
Jul 24
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Jul 24
2023
Posted by XS Editor
At the helm of the Trimaran SVR-Lazartigue, François Gabart and his crew secured line honours in the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race on Sunday 23 July in 1 day 08 hours 38 minutes and 27 seconds…
GWA Wingfoil World Cup Fuerteventura day 2
Monday
Jul 24
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Jul 24
2023
Posted by XS Editor
The US’s Chris MacDonald and Spain’s Nia Suardiaz landed their second Surf-Freestyle crowns in a week at the end of back-to-back GWA Wingfoil World Tour stops in Spain’s Canary Islands…
Birth of a Sail Loft
Monday
Jul 24
2023
Posted by deleteme
Jul 24
2023
Posted by deleteme
I first met Sebastian and Samantha in St. Augustine, Florida, at a meet and greet for cruisers. We had to be the youngest people at the function and certainly the only ones sporting dreadlocks. We were riff-raff sailors on production boats. We were also semi-broke and looking for work. They were smarter than I in that category and had arrived with a plan to network with the owners of larger cruising yachts.
I went for the free beer, snacks, and to meet Seb and Sammi—as I now know them six years later. On three separate occasions, from North Carolina to Florida, mutual friends informed us we all had to meet. And I’m so glad we did.
Their unique southern accents were distinctive in the historic Floridian tavern. Sebastian is a mix of Louisianan and Columbian-American, and Sam’s Tennessee-meets-Carolinas.
A networking plan for the boring cruiser’s function wasn’t the only way the pair was ahead of me in the logistics department. They were quick to pick up seasonal work outside the marine industry, and they also lofted brand new sails for their Cal 29, Dancin’ Lions, which was already a pretty tricked out liveaboard.
Sebastian was becoming something of an expert when it came to canvas, masterminding Dancin’ Lion’s sails, dodger, bimini, and more, but Samantha was the right hand in much, if not all, of the process.
Not long after our meet-up (and a short-term gig where the couple dressed as elves for holiday tourists), Sebastian was working full-time at a local canvas shop while Samantha continued with odd jobs.
Later they headed north to the Chesapeake Bay and a 20-ton Tayana 37 with room for Sebastian’s industrial sewing machine. He also put me on to a job on a tall ship nearby, a 100-foot schooner docked on one side of the deep, exposed York River in Virginia. On the other side was a protected creek and yacht basin where Samantha worked restoring their new boat, which they renamed Rhythm, and where Sebastian got a job in the boatyard.
I sailed back and forth between the yacht basin where they worked and the ship where I worked. At the end of the season, we went our separate ways again.
In 2020, Sebastian started his own canvas-making business, Black Dog Sail Loft, from the salon table of their 37-foot boat, measuring, fabricating, and installing on yachts of all kinds with the utmost attention to detail.
From there, the pair returned to the North Carolina-South Carolina border, where they first met through their mutual love of dogs. Oh yeah, they each have their own pup aboard, a tiny poodle named Gypsy, and Shadow—the namesake of what is now Sebastian’s very own bricks-and-mortar, full-service sailmaking loft.
Black Dog Sail Loft officially opened in 2022 in Calabash, North Carolina, less than a mile from the Little River Inlet and Intracostal Waterway. Home to traditional seafaring and now charter fishing, the town is a natural fit for Sebastian the sailmaker…
WASZP European Games at Quiberon, France overall
Monday
Jul 24
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Jul 24
2023
Posted by XS Editor
An incredible five days of WASZP action came to a head on the beautiful waters of Quiberon, with four races completed creating a seventeen race series. It has to go down as one of the most spectacular foiling events in recent memory…
A tough weekend in Los Angeles
Monday
Jul 24
2023
Posted by XS Editor
Jul 24
2023
Posted by XS Editor
For the first time in the history of the SailGP league, ten national teams raced in the Port of Los Angeles this weekend, for the second event of Season 4…
Gul Fireball Championship – Edwards and Townend lead after Day 2
Monday
Jul 24
2023
Posted by deleteme
Jul 24
2023
Posted by deleteme
The Gul Fireball UK National Championship at Royal Torbay YC completed three races on day 2 after the first days racing had been abandoned…
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