Tag Archives: Cedar Point Yacht Club

Cedar Point Regatta: Sounds Like Fun!

Posted on June 5, 2016 | 6 comments

Unless you’re an avid sailor — or you read “06880” closely — you’d never know that this weekend, Cedar Point Yacht Club hosted a national event.

Nearly 500 sailors on 83 boats competed in the OneDesign regatta. It was the second-largest regatta ever in Westport.

CPYC - 2 - Richard Gordon

The photo above shows some of the action.

But unless you’re a sailor, that shot — gorgeous as it is — means little.

So, in an effort to go behind the scenes — as “06880” always tries to do — here are a few photos a non-sailor would never see.

Or even think about.

Yet these scenes too were all part of another wonderful Westport weekend.

Race officials monitor the action, away from the sometimes wet weather.

Race officials monitor the action, away from the sometimes wet weather.

Intense action, mid-race.

Monitoring the wind and the competition, mid-race.

The regatta seems to be going well for this guy.

This guy enjoys every moment of the weekend.

Making sure everything is ship-shape.

Making sure everything is ship-shape.

Sailors don't have to shower after races.

Sailors don’t have to shower after races.

Part of the attraction of a regatta is what happens after a regatta. (All photos/Courtesy of Richard Gordon, T2PTV and Cedar Point Yacht Club

Part of the attraction of a regatta is what happens after a regatta. (All photos/Courtesy of Richard Gordon, T2PTV and Cedar Point Yacht Club)

 

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Classic Cars, Fast Sailboats Mark Westport Weekend

Posted on June 3, 2016 | 4 comments

There’s a lot going on here this weekend.

Tomorrow (Saturday, June 4) is Sunrise Rotary’s Great Duck Race (1-4 p.m., Parker Harding Plaza). There’s $10,000 in prizes (tickets are $20 each, available at the race). Plus plenty of free fun.

Tomorrow is also Shred Day (bring up to 8 paper bags or 3 boxes of bills, tax returns, medical records, etc. to the Westport-Weston Health District, 180 Bayberry Lane, 9 a.m.-noon).

On Sunday (June 5, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Winslow Park), the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce celebrates our 1st annual Dog Festival ($10 per person, $25 per family; dogs go free!). UPDATE: The Dog Festival has been postponed to next Sunday, June 12.

Flying a bit below that radar are 2 very intriguing events. Dragone is sponsoring a spectacular classic automobile auction tomorrow (Saturday, June 4, 6:30 p.m., 176 Post Road West).

All weekend long, Cedar Point Yacht Club hosts a OneDesign Regatta.

Believe it or not, they’re related.

Dragone and Cedar Point are cross-promoting each other. (Folks who can afford classic cars tend to also enjoy things like sailboat racing.)

Dragone director of marketing Alex Dragone stands next to a one-of-a-kind 1939 Alfa Romeo -- perhaps the most expensive automobile in the auction.

Dragone director of marketing Alex Dragone stands next to a one-of-a-kind 1939 Alfa Romeo — perhaps the most expensive automobile in the auction.

Both are driven by young people. The auction’s mastermind is 26-year-old Alex Dragone, the next generation of the famed family. Race director Samantha Parisi doubles as Staples High School’s varsity sailing coach. She brings youth and excitement to those 2 jobs.

And both events draw hundreds of people from around the world to Westport. 500 car collectors are expected to bid on 62 cars tomorrow night. Alfa Romeos, Bugattis, Corvettes, Rolls Royces and more — one dating back to 1904 — will attract bids as low as $20,000, and as high as $3 million.

Cedar Point, meanwhile, hosts more than 80 boats and 500 sailors. The schedule includes one national championship, and a Long Island Sound championship too.

“06880” will provide race photos after the final series. Meanwhile, here are a few shots from today’s sneak preview at Dragone.

A 1965 Maserati Sebring Series 2. Behind it: a 1979 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.

A 1965 Maserati Sebring Series 2. Behind it: a 1979 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.

New York Times automobile writer Jim Motavalli -- a Staples High School Class of 1970 graduate -- with a 1965 Sunbeam Tiger.

New York Times automobile writer — and 1970 Staples High School graduate — Jim Motavalli, with a 1965 Sunbeam Tiger.

An Allard J2$ Sphinx race car. It belong to the Sopwith family (of Camel fame). The Sopwiths were also a yachting family.

An Allard J2R Sphinx race car. It belonged to the Sopwith family (of Camel fame). The Sopwiths were also yachtsmen.

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Posted in Local business, Organizations, Sports, Transportation

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Cedar Point: Come On In, The Water’s Fine!

Posted on July 16, 2015 | 10 comments

It’s called the Cedar Point Yacht Club. But don’t let the name fool you.

For 128 years, Cedar Point has had a low-key presence in Westport. More sailboat racing than “yacht,” with a clubhouse that’s more “house” than “club,” it exists in happy anonymity on Saugatuck Island, at the western edge of town.

There are no amenities. No fancy lounge or restaurant. No pool or sauna. No tennis courts. Cedar Point is simply a place where serious sailors of all ages, backgrounds and types gather to sail.

Cedar Point Yacht Club, from the air.

Cedar Point Yacht Club, from the air.

It’s one of Westport’s best-kept secrets. And if you’d like to see what this non-yacht-club yacht club is all about, here’s your chance.

This Saturday (July 18, 12-5 p.m.), Cedar Point will treat anyone who shows up as if they’re a member.

Watch the fleets go out to race. Enjoy hot dogs and a bouncy house for the kids. Walk the docks. Tour members’ yachts boats. Relax at the private beach.

There are also free classroom sailing lessons, and a free on-water sailing lesson (weather permitting).

And — keep this quiet — if you mention you’re an “06880” reader, William Adler will arrange for you to go out on a sailboat with a Cedar Point governor.

The club is on Saugatuck Island’s Bluff Point Road. Getting there is half the fun — by car or boat.

(For more information, email BobKarpel.CPYC@gmail.com)

Cedar Point Yacht Club logo

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Cedar Point’s National Showcase Regatta

Posted on May 27, 2015 | 1 comment

Unless you’re actually out on the Sound, most Westporters’ knowledge of regattas is limited to watching far-off boats, and hearing an occasional horn.

So most of us don’t know that Cedar Point Yacht Club is hosting a major race this month. The OneDesign series draws J/70 and Lightning class sailors from Maine to Minnesota, and abroad.

It’s gotten so large that this year it’s split into 2 parts. The races for sport boats under 26 feet were held earlier. This weekend (May 30-31), the club hosts larger boats.

Conditions were challenging in mid-May: a light rain, swirling fog, little breeze. But 170 sailors waited out the rain and fog, finally competing in a national showcase for Westport sailboat racing.

Long Island Sound can get crowded with racers. (Photo/Richard Gordon)

Long Island Sound can get crowded with racers. (Photo/Richard Gordon)

This crew is based in Africa. (Photo/Richard Gordon)

This crew is based in Africa. (Photo/Richard Gordon)

Bodo and Nick van der Wense, in Turbo Duck. (Photo/Richard Gordon)

Bodo and Nick van der Wense, in Turbo Duck. (Photo/Richard Gordon)

Sometimes you race. Sometimes you wait. (Photo/Richard Gordon)

Sometimes you race. Sometimes you wait. (Photo/Richard Gordon)

Bill Walker and Allan Stern of Westport in the lead. They finished 10th in the J/70 race. (Photo/Hank Sykes)

Bill Walker and Allan Stern of Westport in the lead. They finished 10th in the J/70 race. (Photo/Hank Sykes)

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Cedar Point Races To History

Posted on June 3, 2014 | 6 comments

For 127 years, Cedar Point Yacht Club has had a low-key presence in Westport. More sailboat racing than “yacht,” with a clubhouse that’s more “house” than “club,” it exists in happy anonymity on Saugatuck Island, at the western edge of town.

There are no amenities. No fancy lounge or restaurant. No pool or sauna. No tennis courts. Cedar Point is simply a place where serious sailors of all ages, backgrounds and types gather to sail.

But if you were anywhere near Long Island Sound this past weekend, you couldn’t miss it. CPYC hosted the largest regatta in their century-and-a-quarter history. Over 400 sailors, from Texas to Maine, brought 100 boats for the One-Design Regatta.

A close turn, at the weekend Cedar Point regatta. (Photo/copyright Barry Hyman Photography)

A close turn, at the weekend Cedar Point regatta. (Photo/copyright Barry Hyman Photography)

It was 2 days of delightful mayhem, with 7 sets of races, 7 boat classes and 3 championships. Four winners head to Newport for the nationals in September.

Westporter — and 38-year CPYC member Carl Sherter — won the J30 fleet, by a landslide.

“Revelation” — a sleek 34.5-footer owned by Westporters George, Ann and Alex Wilbanks (with Westport’s Sarah Hamm crewing) — finished 5th in the J015 class. Weston’s Bob Zannetti was 12th.

Westport sailors finished well in other classes. Keing McCarthy was a crew member on the boat that won in the Soverel 33 National Championships. In the Beneteau 36.7 class, 4th and 5th place went to Saugatuck Harbor Yacht Club members Junius Brown and Alistair Duke.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the J70 races. The J70 — a new boat –is light, fast, exciting to handle and less expensive than many others. Younger people have embraced it, helping revitalize the sport.

J70s -- the future of sailing. (Photo/copyright Barry Hyman Photography)

J70s — the future of sailing. (Photo/copyright Barry Hyman Photography)

Regatta chairman Halsey Bullen gave a nod to the past — and present. “Cedar Point Yacht Club has been an important part of Westport since it was founded in 1887 by a group of prominent local sportsmen. They had a simple, clear purpose: to ‘promote interest in the sport of sailing.’

“Our goal this year was to show we can handle a regatta of this scale and national importance. We couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome.”

And, just as happily, this coming weekend members will slip back into the low-key, let’s-race-and-have-fun mode that has served them so well, for so long.

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