The Nantucket Lightship at anchor off Goat Island with the Newport Bridge in the background. (Photo by Tom Shevlin)
It’s always a welcome sight in the harbor, so I was pleasantly surprised to wake up to the Nantucket Lightship anchored off of Goat Island this morning.
As we wrote last November as she settled in for the winter at the Newport Shipyard, The Lightship Nantucket otherwise known as WLV 612 greeted boaters to her namesake island oasis from 1975 until 1983.
She was one of two Nantucket-based vessels that served as last lightships in the United States, and carries with her a storied history.
NEWPORT, R.I. – Put this one down on the top of my wish list.
This classic looking motoryacht is currently on the drafting boards over at Newport’s own Sparkman & Stephens. According to the specs, she’s 114-feet overall with a maximum beam of 22-feet, 10-inches and a 6-foot, 7-inch draft. Her maximum speed is listed at 29-knots with a cruising rating of 26. All nice. But here’s where she’s set apart.
One of the inspirations for the aluminum-clad S&S 114' motoyacht, the DC-3.
The deck house is constructed of riveted and brushed aluminum similar to an old DC-3 aircraft (seen at right).
Sexy does not begin to describe it.
If you’re lucky enough to be in the market, be sure to contact S&S for full study plans.
Storm brewing in the distance with J/109 PICANTE. (Photo by Rolex/Dan Nerney)
NEWPORT, R.I. – The first half of the biennial New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex, finished up for eight classes earlier this week. The catch, however, was that for five of the classes, racing had to be abandoned due to severe thunderstorms just as the third and final day of racing got underway.
NEWPORT, R.I. – In addition to being one of the state’s leading environmental research and advocacy groups, Save The Bay boasts some rather impressive multimedia capabilities. Here, Save The Bay continues its CONNECT series on You Tube, featuring some of the participants in the annual 1.7-mile swim.
Truce is the Committee boat for the white fleet shown here Starting the J-105 class. (Photo courtesy Rolex/Dan Nerney)
NEWPORT, R.II. – Seven classes concluded competition on Sunday in the first half of the New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex, while a balance of five others logged a second of three race days in dazzling conditions in the waters off Newport.
Catering to 107 boats and 1,200 sailors in its first half before switching gears on Wednesday to serve as the Rolex US-IRC National Championship for another 38 boats, the weeks marks one of the high water marks for the summer’s sailing calendar.
Hit the jump for full details on the day’s results, courtesy of Media Pro International/Regatta News.
Straight Jacket, Sanford Tyler, a Quest 30, sailed in PHRF 1. (Rolex/Dan Nerney photo)
NEWPORT, R.I. – On the same day that hundreds of athletes swam from Newport to Jamestown in the annual Save the Bay Swim, more thna 1,200 others plied Narragansett Bay from mid-morning to afternoon, sailing the first day of the New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex.
More on the day’s events after the jump via RegattaNews/Media Pro International.
The New York Yacht Club Race Week presented by Rolex returns to Newport this weekend. The classic 12 metre class will be featured in one of the 11 division to be competing in the highly anticipated event. (Photo by Tom Shevlin)
NEWPORT, R.I. – Seven days of racing, 147 competing boats, 11 divisions, two National Championships, one North American Championship, 1,200 sailors and one great sailing town. It all adds up to New England’s favorite regatta – New York Yacht Club’s (NYYC) Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex.
Kicking off on Saturday, July 17 with three days of one design and Classic, 12 Metre and PHRF-rated competition, Race Week’s “first half” welcomes the Beneteau 36.7, J/105, J/109, J/122, J/80, Classics, S Class, 12 Metre, 6 Metre and NYYC Swan 42 classes. In all, 109 boats are registered for the first half of Race Week. After a lay day featuring a classic New England Lobster Bake hosted at the New York Yacht Club’s on-the-water clubhouse Harbour Court, the “second half” is scheduled for four days of racing to determine the Rolex US-IRC National Champion. To date 38 IRC-rated racers are registered for the fourth annual competition.
Light air greeted sailors in the first day of racing for the Melges 24 National and 32 Northeast Championships. (Photo by Tom Shevlin)
NEWPORT, R.I. – Racing began this morning under sunny skies, but light wind in the 2010 Melges 24 National and 32 Northeast Championships. With northerlies running between 4 and 8 knots during the first race, drivers navigated through a patience game and course change as light air prevailed throughout the day.
Light air greeted sailors in the first day of racing for the Melges 24 and 32 Northeast Championships. (Photo by Tom Shevlin)
The weekend-long event, hosted by Sail Newport, boasts a highly competitive field in both classes, including a strong contingent of local boats like Phil Lotz’s Arethusa, Malcolm Gefter on Celeritas, and Michael Dominguez on Bronco.
Check back for more photos here on Monday and in next week’s edition of Newport This Week. For updated results over the weekend, visit www.melges24nationals.com.
An RC 44 passes in front of Puma's 2008-09 VOR entry, il mostro on Wednesday. (Photo by Tom Shevlin)
NEWPORT, R.I. – Can you find a new RC44 sailing an arm’s length away from a Volvo Ocean Race entrant. Sailing just north of the Newport Pell Bridge on Wednesday, America’s Cup skipper Russell Coutt’s new design briefly crossed paths with Puma Ocean Racing’s 2008-09 VOR entry, il mostro.
Sporting the distinctive logo of the BMW Oracle Racing Team, who Coutts won the last Cup with, the boat cut an impressive profile on the water.
Designed to be a light displacement high performance One Design boat, the RC44 was designed jointly by four-time America’s Cup winner Coutts and naval architect Andrej Justin. According to the designers, it was created for top level racing in international regattas under strictly controlled Class Rules. The concept and the design features of the RC44 are dedicated to the amateur helmsmen racing in fleet racing sailing events.
It is also among the potential designs being discussed for use in the run-up to the next America’s Cup.
Titan XV is among the favorites for this year's Newport-Bermuda race. Here, she sails past Castle Hill in the opening race of the New York Yacht Club's Annual Regatta on Friday.(Photo by Tom Shevlin)
NEWPORT, R.I. – It’s on. On Friday, more than 180 sailboats, ranging in length from 33 to 100-feet will set up at Castle Hill, bound for Bermuda in one of sailing – and Newport’s – most awesome spectacles.
The Bermuda Race, first run in 1906 from Gravesend Bay, N.Y. with just three entries (no, it didn’t start in Newport), is by far one of the most anticipated races on the East Coast – if not all of sailing.
It is one of the sport’s top prizes for amateurs and is sure to be on the wish-list of many a weeknight racer.
Under tow, the USS Forrestal (CV-59) passes under the Newport Pell Bridge on Tuesday morning. (Photos by Tom Shevlin)
The sight drew out a number of boaters onto the water for a final look at the Forrestal.
NEWPORT, R.I. – The USS Forrestal (CV-59) left her berth in Newport today, bound for a Philadelphia shipyard where she’ll await a fate unknown.
Preparations for the voyage began early Tuesday morning. By 8:30 a.m. she had been moved from her berth at the Navy’s Pier One facility into Coddington Cove. The USNS Apache (T-ATF-172) ocean tug provided the horse power, while a fleet of a half-dozen smaller tugs guided the 1,067-foot carrier under the Newport Pell Bridge and out past Castle Hill.
Recreational boats were kept at a distance by an escort comprised of Navy, Coast Guard, and city patrol boats. Shore-side, onlookers lined the route from the Van Zandt Pier and Fort Adams in Newport to East Ferry and Beavertail in Jamestown.
At one time one of the U.S. Navy’s most advanced supercarriers, the Forrestal was named after former Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal and was the lead ship of her class, which included recent berthmate, USS Saratoga.
NEWPORT, R.I. – Not to be outdone by the adults, Sail Newport hosted the first major youth regatta of the season over the weekend, with a mixed bag of conditions challenging sailors and making for some exciting racing.
Read on for a full report from the 2010 Sail Newport Youth Challenge.
Tom Hill's Titan XV passes Castle Hill in Friday's Round the Island Race (Photos by Tom Shevlin)
NEWPORT, R.I. – Racing is underway in the longest-running regatta in America – New York Yacht Club’s 156th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex.
More than 100 boats headed to the starting line in Newport at noon for the Around the Island Race. With light air and cloudy skies, conditions were less than ideal at the start, but that didn’t stop a contingent of onlookers from lining the coastline from Brenton Point in Newport to Fort Weatherill and Beavertail in Jamestown.
The weekend-long event will continue with buoy racing on Saturday, June 12, through Sunday, June 13.
In all, 111 boats are entered across divisions for PHRF, Classic, 6 Metre, 12 Metre, IRC-rated entries and Swan 42 and J/105s one-design classes.
The U.S. Naval Vessel Seay is in port this week. (Photo by Tom Shevlin)
NEWPORT, R.I. – With a massing that dwarfs the nearby USS Forestal and USS Saratoga, the U.S. Navy vessel Seay is ported at Naval Station Newport this week.
According to the Department of Defense, the Seay is capable of transporting 388,000 square feet of cargo, the equivalent of seven football fields. Normally berthed in Baltimore, she is a Bob Hope class vehicle cargo ship used for prepositioning of Army vehicles. The ramp at the stern can be lowered to provide vehicle loading and off-loading capabilities.
NEWPORT, R.I. – Not to be outdone 
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Newport, RI
