The NYYC Invitational is only one of the highlights of Newport's sailing season. Photo by Dan Nerney/Rolex
NEWPORT, R.I. – To sailors who value deep water, steady winds, world-class competitive racing, and a culture of seamanship that dates back over 350 years, our humble City-by-the-Sea is simply unmatched.
In fact, Newport is often referred to as the “Sailing Capital of the World.” And as far as we can tell, it is.
Apparently, however, not everyone agrees.
Take Annapolis, Md. for instance. By itself, Annapolis is a very nice town, and shares many similarities to Newport. It’s on the water, values its colonial architecture, is home to a vibrant sailing community, and of course has a strong Naval presence. It also likes to lay claim to the title of “Sailing Capital of America” and occasionally even “Sailing Capitol of the World.”
But wouldn’t it stand to reason that as the true Sailing Capital of the World, Newport should also be recognized as the Sailing Capital of America?
Katie Arcieri from The Capital and HometownAnnapolis.com, isn’t so sure. After all, Newport isn’t a capital of anything, whereas Annapolis is. Of course, Newporters could contend that the city was the state capital periodically from colonial times until the turn of the 20th century, when it was finally moved to Providence.
Referencing notables like Brad Read, Nancy Piffard, Tim Walsh and Susan Daly, the HometownAnnapolis.com article dives into the debate headfirst, and leaves the answer up to the readers.
So far, the answer seems to be obvious. With over 2,000 votes recorded, Newport is trouncing Maryland’s capitol city their own in an online poll.
So how do these two rival sailing cities match up?
Among Annapolis’ finer points: it has better weather, is home to the nation’s largest in-water boat show, is home to the Sailing Hall of Fame, has organized racing six days out of the week, and is host to the 2009 Melges 24 Worlds.
Newport, on the other hand is home to the International Yacht Restoration School and the New York Yacht Club, became ingrained in sailing lore with its 50 year relationship with the America’s Cup, was the site of the 2009 6 metre and 12 metre worlds, hosts the storied Newport-Bermuda Race, and lesser Annapolis-Newport Race.
Which of course to me sums up the argument pretty well: Nobody’s racing to Annapolis; they’re racing to Newport – the spiritual home of sailing’s golden age, where wind rules and the best deep water port on the eastern seaboard can be found.
Annapolis on the other hand is on the Chesapeake, where winds can be fickle and the water shallow. Big boats just don’t like it.
Newport, it seems has too many appealing qualities to list. Not included in the HometownAnnapolis.com “resume” for Newport are Sail Newport, Shake-a-Leg, our Laser Frostbiting fleet, the OSTAR, the Tuesday and Wednesday night races, Coastal Living Regatta, New York Yacht Club Race Week, the Opti New England Championships, proximity to Block Island Race Week, Swan 42 National Championships, Newport Bucket Regatta, and the Wall Street Corporate Challenge.
But then again, as the article points out, Annapolis is not only Maryland’s state capital, it’s also near the nation’s capital…
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Newport, RI
