A lovely sail on the VAr 37.
Summer Sailing is Here!
Summer is here and as usual, some of the larger boats in the fleet will be making extended passages. The Contest 36 and VAr 37 will be making several one week cruises. The Contest is already in Mystic Shipyard East, and the VAr 37 will join her in August. Mystic Shipyard East is a lovely, resort style marina with a pool just steps away from our slip. From Mystic, Shelter Island or East Hampton / Montauk are less than 2 hours away, while Block Island is just 3 hours away.
The Sweden 340 is available and perfect for longer passages, with all the gear and lots of availability for that week long August cruise. There are only 5 days reserved in August so far. There are only 3 days reserved on the Hanse 320 in August, so lots of availability.
Martin’s kids discover new uses for the sailbags !
Sailing the Clearwater 35 back to Norwalk.
Future Key West Bow Person!
We strongly encourage members to work together to book time so you can enjoy one way trips. From Mystic, a great spot to switch is at Marion MA, which offer a lovely harbor at the top of Buzzards Bay. Jamestown, across from Newport, is another great spot to change over. One way trips allow you cover far more territory without the need to change over the boat. The best sailing of the year starts now, with warmer water and the SW breeze kicking in. We hope to see you out there soon!
Our Ensign fleet, with the Pearson 37 and Var 37 in the background.
Summer Ensign Racing Starts this Thursday!
Our summer Ensign Racing program starts this Thursday, July 23rd from 6-8pm and runs to September 10th. Members can Captain an Ensign for free this thursday, thereafter members can race for free or captain a boat for $20. Non-members should go to our Meetup page to sign up. We look forward to seeing you out there!
Class Update
Kids Camp. Cat and Thomas are doing an awesome job with our Kids Camp. After a very busy start, we have some spaces available in August.
Intro to Sailing and Basic Keelboat. New classes start every week. Right now we are booked into the 2nd week of August, but we are looking to add some classes. Now might be the perfect time to start your passage to becoming captain of your own vessel. We often get people for checkouts who have taken lessons elsewhere. If the program includes a membership component, so that you can use the programs boats after the classes are done, the quality of the instructions is almost always better. The programs with no membership component often seem to be little more than glorified 3 hour cruises.
Basic Cruising. We have a new class this weekend with one opening (a student had to drop out). This class starts at 10am on friday, with an evening session on thursday from 6-9pm. We will also conduct an extra make up session for cover the material from the first evening session. This class is taught by Martin, and is a great intro into the basics of cruising. The pics below are from the class from last weekend.
Fleet Update
Big Fleet news is that we are getting the Clearwater 35 in shape, so Midrange (Hanse 320-Contest 36) members will have a new option available soon. Last week we sanded and revarnished all the floorboards on the inside. We rebuilt all the winches this week, and have done lots of little jobs. A big question is do we keep the tiller or switch over to a wheel. We may also go to a lifting keel but that is for next year. The draft right now is 7′. The Clearwater was the overall Sailing World Boat of the Year in 1988, an impressive award indeed, and is classic American yacht built by a very good yard.
Ensigns: Vim has new bulkheads and her bottom will be painted this week. Courageous is getting her bottom painted now.
Oday 240: She is starting to go out and is part of our new Ensign + program. Perfect for local overnights.
Sabre 30. Seguin is up in Mystic East (which offers easy access by Amtrak). The channel is somewhat shallower than last year. Plan on heading in/out at half tide. Sabre 30 members can also sail the electric Pearson 37 Friendship out of Norwalk for the Sabre 30 rate.
Pearson 37’s. Matinicus just had her bottom painted, and we also repitched the prop, so the motor can be run to 2500 rpms (max is 2800). We will be adding solar panels to Friendship, the electric Pearson, for extended range when motoring.
Our new Clearwater 35 and the Sweden 340. Classic American and European yachts.
Mid Range. All 3 midrange boats, the Hanse 320, Sweden 340 and Contest 36 (in Mystic) are now in service and ready for your use, with the Clearwater coming online soon. Our most popular membership category.
VAr37. The 37 is reserved for most of August up Mystic, with one member handing off to another member at various points heading up to Martha’s Vinyard. The Contest 36 will likewise see lots of extended trips. The Var 37 will be heading to the Newport and Annapolis shows in the fall, and then south to Miami for the winter. Cuba anyone?!!