Racing’s most accessible on-ramp

by Bob Stephens, Stephens Waring Design
Classic yacht racing is having a moment. As conventional sailboat racing suffers from dwindling participation, the enthusiasm of owners and sailors of older classic sailboats has only increased, and the result is a series of vibrant regattas along the northeast coast of the US and in Europe. Here in the States, the crown jewel is the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta in Maine, which routinely draws over 100 wooden boats to its starting line the first Saturday in August, for forty years running.

Think of classic yacht racing and you might picture varnish gleaming in the sun, gaff-rigged sloops and schooners sliding gracefully along, lengthy overhanging bows and sweeping teak decks. You might think you’d have to arrive with a hundred-year-old family heirloom, handed down by your father’s father. And you’d be partly right. That’s one part of the circuit; the thrill of watching historic relics, impeccably maintained and restored, fight it out in the Classic and Vintage divisions.

But another part of the circuit is more accessible to participants whose surnames aren’t associated with the Gilded Age, and to those whose ambitions don’t include mastering the art of laying down coat after coat of varnish to preserve century-old mahogany. It can also provide a thrilling ride in what were last generation’s high-performance speedsters. – Full report