Viper NAs

Stamford Yacht Club and Indian Harbor Yacht Club hosted 2009 Viper 640 North Americans and delivered two days of great wind for the sport boats- exactly what they need. 37 boats competed in the teaching regatta, which included after-racing chalk talks for the growing class that's rapidly recruiting new boat owners. As always, Vipers look great in big breeze, so take a look at the photos here and look for them in Sailing World in the spring.

Star NAs: an Easterly and a Westerly

We had two complementary great-weather days during the 4-day Star North American Championship held at Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport this September. Tuesday was a quintessential Long Island Sound Easterly, with gloomy skies and big seas on the body of water that opens to the East. Friday's Westerly was a familiar weather pattern as well, with high pressure, bright sun, and strong winds. 50-something stars had 4 great days of racing- what a treat. Take a look at the photos here.

NY400 Flying Dutchman Regatta

Around 100 Flying Dutchman sailors from around the world convened in Manhattan this month as part of the NY400 celebration of the 400th anniversary of Captain Henry Hudson's arrival in New York and establishment of New Amsterdam. For a full history lesson and information about the Holland on the Hudson celebration, visit NY400.org.

The waters between Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty are an interesting place to sail and a wonderful place to take photos.

See all the photos here.

The Vineyard Race and The Denmark Race

Two of Long Island Sound's biggest annual races have come and gone again: the Vineyard Race and the Denmark Race, both hosted by Stamford Yacht Club. Labor Day Weekend's Vineyard Race was a drifter this year; the Denmark Race weather was much more interesting for photographs.

See the Vineyard Race photos here and the Denmark Race photos here.

America II and the 12YDF

This photo speaks for itself...

It was a perfect night for a sail on America II (US 42) last night, as we had yet another beautiful evening with clear skies and a little bit of breeze. It's been a great week and it looks like the Vineyard Race participants will get more of the same this weekend- as long as they have some breeze.

We hadn't been aboard a 12 meter since we ran US 42's sister ship, US 46, in 2006. It was good to be back, especially with such a great group of people.

We look forward to photographing the 12s at the 2009 12 Meter Worlds and the rest of the local fall circuit, but also hope to be aboard US 42 and the newly acquired Lionheart more often for the 12 Meter Yacht Development Foundation.

CT Leukemia Cup Regatta

We were thrilled to be involved with the 2009 Connecticut Leukemia Cup Regatta, hosted by Duck Island Yacht Club and North Cove Yacht Club in the Westbrook-Old Saybrook area. This is a very well-planned event for a good cause, and the regatta party was held in a big work shed at Brewer's Pilot's Point Marina. We were not quite as thrilled with the weather that we got, but that goes with the territory, and it certainly makes things interesting. The remnants of hurricane Danny didn't deliver any excessive wind, but did dump buckets of rain on us throughout the entire distance race. Everybody put their foul weather gear to the test during the 2-3 hour race and came in with a good attitude and eagerness to help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. See the photos here. Click the logo for more info about the event and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

PhotoBoat Annual Cruise

We didn't get to cruise on our Gulfstar 37 this year (at least not yet), nor could we fit in 3 weeks, but at least we got an upgrade on the boat. We had a great time sailing with family aboard the X412 Expeditious- here's a Christmas card shot during a daysail off of Martha's Vineyard. We took care of the delivery home and despite threats from Hurricane Bill, the weather turned out the be quite calm. We just motored along, bobbing up and down with the big swells from the North Atlantic, like this one breaking on the Point Judith breakwater.

Introducing Harry Katz

Thanks to Harry Katz, a photographer and videographer who worked with us this summer. Harry is a Sophomore Photojournalism major at the University of Missouri School of Journalism- one of the top Journalism schools in the country. Harry's comfort with his camera was obvious to us right away, and no wonder, since his father is a well-known commercial photographer. Harry also worked as a photojournalist this summer for the Baltimore Sun. He's built quite a portfolio and is a true professional photographer already.

Harry helped us with video this summer, added to our photo inventory, and was instrumental in helping us with our event set-up.

At each event, we have four terminals networked for participants to view their photos from the regatta, including photos taken that day, searchable by boat name or sail number. With our pop-up tent, our viewing terminals, our projected slideshow going on in the background for those who just want to see a sampling of all the boats, we've got a lot of entertainment going on. Participants and organizers love it. Thanks, Harry, for helping us get to the next level.

Change of Seasons

It's back to school time and things have been busy. We've been covering a number of end-of-summer championships, particularly on the Jr. scene.

The Junior Sailing Association of Long Island Sound 2009 Summer Season ended with some great regattas. We covered Opti Champs at Pequot Yacht Club and Laser/420 Champs at Beach Point Yacht Club.

In spite of the fact that these are the best Laser and 420 sailors on Long Island Sound, when they got an Easterly thrown at them on Western LIS, things got a little messy- as usual. It's such a stark contrast to average LIS summer fair weather conditions. These kids will remember this day for sure, as I remember each one I experienced growing up sailing in Pequot's JSA program.

Be sure to check out the rest of the dramatic photos here.

Opti Champs was not as epic, but there was consistent wind and nice sun, and for that we are grateful. Pequot and Southport Harbor were absolutely overflowing with Optis, but everything was very well orchestrated- nice job, organizers.

I caught this Opti sailor waving to his parents at the jibe mark, which is a fun photo considering the fact that Opti racing can be very competitive.

See all the Opti Champs photos here.