Coconut Grove After yesterdays race was postponed due to thunderstorm activity in the area, today featured a double header. The wind was 12-18 knots from the northwest, which is always shifty here and makes for challenging racing. In race one of the day, there was a big left shift off the line and Mark and […]

Coconut Grove 76 teams from 16 countries have come to the warm waters of Biscayne Bay to compete in the 91st Annual Bacardi Cup.  I am racing the week with Mark Strube. Before the first race of the regatta, the Star Class family payed its respects in a tribute to Sir Durward Knowles who recent […]

Photo by Kathleen Tocke Coconut Grove More perfect sailing conditions were on deck for the Star Sailors here in Miami….. 12 knots from the southeast all day, with some shifts, some not so subtle. In the first race, Josh and I had good start up near the Committee boat (right side). We took a short […]

Coconut Grove 32 Stars came to Mimai to compete in the annual Zag Masters; a fun tradition that includes father son, father daughter, Master(50+),Grand Masters(60+), and Exhaulted Grand Masters (70+). Golf on Friday is the precursor to the racing on the weekend; normally two races on Saturday and one on Sunday. Today the breeze was […]

Coconut Grove A brisk and chilly northerly greeted the Star fleet for the first regatta of 2018.  Winds on the race track ranged between 8 and 18 knots with a few rain showers.  Three races were held for the 19 boat fleet. The wind was very shifty, not oscillating predicatably but rather randomly shifting. This […]

Celebrating 100 with Sir Durward Knowles Nassau Three races were held today on Montague Bay of the east end of New Providence.  All 25 teams were ready for the all important final day of qualifying. The winds were challenging today ranging from 4 knots to 20 knots with 30 degree wind shifts. The US team […]

Nassau Day 2 was very good to Phil and I.  With scores of 1, 2, 20, 1 we jumped up to third place in the standings.  We were very fast upwind in the 8-10 knots of wind and able to hold our own downwind.  It has taken a lot of work for us to narrow […]

Gull Lake MI On Saturday, two races were scheduled for the final day of racing. A beautiful, clear blue sky greeted us that morning but not much wind.  In fact, the little bit of wind that did arrive on Gull Lake swung around wildly in direction, and never amounted to more than 5 knots.  The […]

Gull Lake, Michigan Twelve incredibly well restored Stars are racing in the first Vintage Gold Cup here in Michigan. The boats and the creation of this event, are the passion and dream of Jon Vander Mullen and Don Parfet.  Most of the boats are over 50 years old and all are wood.  They have been updated […]

Danny Cayard, September 1989 Troense Denmark Today was a rest day and rest I did. Slept til 10:00. Must have been tired. Later, Danny and I went down to the club (Sailors don’t know what to do with a day off!) and we raced in a fun race in the harbor that the event organizers […]

Start of race 4 Troense, Denmark Today was a beautiful day here in Troense. No rain, and there was more sun than clouds.  The wind for the two races held today was 12-14 knots still from the west.  The Star World courses are 10.4 miles long by the class rules so 2 of those plus […]

Danny and I sailing in Miami in 2016. Troense, Denmark Day two lived up to it predicted strong winds.  With winds in the mid 20’s and plenty of thunder and lightening, the Race Committee did not hesitate to cancel the racing for the day. Danny and I had a good day finishing up our work […]

A proud nation! Bermuda It’s done and dusted.  The Kiwis were a force too strong to be reckoned with.  They innovated and backed themselves! The Cup now returns to New Zealand where a nation that is passionate about sailing and will embrace it with gusto. Today’s race was just a rerun of the other 8. […]

Oracle and New Zealand crossing tacks. Photo by Richard Smith Bermuda Races 5 and 6 of the 35th America’s Cup were held today on Great Sound in Bermuda in 10 knots of wind.  The question on everyone’s mind was: Did Oracle Team USA find some speed to make this Cup competitive?  The answer is yes! […]

Oracle vs ETNZ start of race 2.      Photos by Richard Smith Bermuda The first two races of America’s Cup 35 were held today on Great Sound in Bermuda.  The conditions were on the lighter side of the spectrum with east winds at 8 knots.  This meant that the wind was blowing over the […]

Bermuda Races 4, 5 and 6 of the Challenger Playoff Final were held today in winds from 16 knots to as little as 11 knots.  The big factor for the day was that the teams both changed their daggerboards in opposite directions.  The Swedes went for the small, high speed boards which are best suited […]

Bermuda One race was held today between Artemis and Softbank Japan in 20 knots from the south.  Japan hit something underwater about an hour before the start.  There didn’t appear to be significant damage to their boat but the investigation by the shore team definitely through the Japanese off their pre game program. In the […]

Artemis stuffing the windward hull. Photos by Richard Smith Bermuda Big day on Great Sound.  Four races were held at the upper limit of the wind range today and the skills of these sailors were tested.  The pre start jostling was rather tame today and in three out of the four starts, one of the teams was […]

Match of the Day-Oracle vs. ETNZ Bermuda The final four races of the qualifications series for the 35th America’s Cup were held today in Bermuda in 12 knots dropping to as little as 8 knots as the day went on. New Zealand vs. Oracle Team USA was the first race of the 35th America’s Cup […]