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Our featured long distance solo sailor - Clay Burkhalter, tells the tale of his 2007 Transat Race in Acadia, his J Boats designed 21 foot offshore boat.

Clay Burkhalter of Stonington, CT, sails a JBoat Transat design for the France to Brazil MiniTransat

Deck of Acadia, CT built Mini-Transat race boat. 21 feet of racing machine

Clay and Uncle Rod Johnstone-designer- testing Acadia in Southeast CT

Acadia waiting on the hard before the start in France

Audio & Visual Production by Griffin Bengraff

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The 50th running of Nantucket's Opera House Cup attracts the elite classic boats to race and be seen at the Classic Yacht Exhibition

The replica of the privateer Lynx. Gunboat for the Opera House Cup

Something old, Something new

Dolphin 1916

Weatherly after the OHC

A Rainbow Parade

Spirit of Tradition Outlier waits to race

Dolphin a Newport 29 waits to race

Weatherly. 1962 Americas Cup 60 years ago

Spartan NY 50

The Alerion Trophy for Opera House Cup

The winner gets the custom quarterboard

Herreshoffs. New York 50 come to the Opera House

Audio & Visual Production by Griffin Bengraff

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Jesse Terry prepares his Alden classic, Abigail for the Thrash to the Onion Patch, the 2022 Newport to Bermuda Race, the iconic American offshore contest.

Abigail prepping for the Big Race.

Getting the interior ready to race.

Abigail going upwind in a breeze.

Alden's designs dominated the early history of the Bermuda Race.

Abigail on her way to winning the 2018 Opera House Cup

Courtesy of classicyachts.org

Abigail at anchor in a quiet cove

The drone gives us an eagle in the sky view of a classic boat.

Bermuda Race trivia; who has gone the most times?

A bench in the fog awaits the start on June 17th.

Audio & Visual Production by Griffin Bengraff

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Mystic Seaport Museum presents "Story Boats: The Tales They Tell", a fascinating collection of historic watercraft and the tales that go with them. From May 28 to August 14, the show presents 18 boats and the people behind them. The Gowrie Group, a division of Risk Strategies, sponsors the podcast and the Conversations Gallery.

The exhibit's lead sponsor, Gowrie Group, a division of Risk Strategies, is one of the nation's leading yacht insurance agencies and is Mystic Seaport's longtime insurance partner.

1880s River life- Shellfishing in white pine dugout canoes

Mystic Seaport Watercraft Guide

Story Boats: Watercraft tales teach us classic boat history.

Mystic Seaport Watercraft Guide

The Boat Shop takes on the smallest watercraft.

"Mystic Built" was the watchword of the 19th century shipwright.

The Mystic Shipyard, headed 29 years by Quentin Snediker, tackles historic refits.

Mystic refloated the pride of Plymouth. Mayflower II.

Courtesy of Mystic Seaport Museum

The Boat Livery, brainchild of John Gardiner, "take out a boat".

Dyer Dhow sailing on the Mystic River is waiting for visitors.

A rack full of frostbite dinghy history, the Dyer Dhow on top

Mystic Seaport Museum- Rossie Building

The story of Americas' "Unsinkable" runabout, the Boston Whaler.

The 13 foot Whaler in the flesh next to the sawn in "Half Whaler" from Life Magazine, 1961

Mystic Seaport Museum- Rossie Building

L Francis Herreshoff was a canoe enthusiast, here his treatment of an elegant kayak

Mystic Seaport Watercraft Guide

LF's modern wooden kayak updates a Native American design

Mystic Seaport Watercraft Guide

Laser designer Bruce Kirby will have his #0 flying high in the Thompson Exhibition Building.

Clay Burkhalter offshore in the Transat. 2007

Courtesy of Clay Burkhalter

Dories await visitors for "Story Boats"

Audio & Visual Production by Griffin Bengraff

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Carleton Mitchell, blue water racer, writer, photographer, loved to portray the native designs of the Americas. One of his favorites, the sailing log canoe, is iconic to his home waters of the Chesapeake.

A wild concoction of wood and canvas, the log canoe has skimmed across the Bay for almost 150 years.

Photos and original art capture the grace and power of this Mid Atlantic classic.

Carlton Michell learned his sailing in New Orleans on Lake Ponchatrain

Carlton Michell's Finisterre famous blue water racer gets her name

Mystic Seaport Museum

The Classic Log canoe circa 1948

Mystic Seaport Museum

Carleton Mitchell photo of 1960s log canoe

Mystic Seaport Museum

In 1931, Jay Dee exemplifies the modern log canoe. Built by John B Harrison

The American Sailboat, Gregory Jones

Flying cloud on a screaming reach

The Chesapeake Bay Log Canoe in light air on the Bay

Modern Log Canoe - T Darling

Uffa Fox sails his decked canoe, East Anglican, 1933

Charles Raskob Robinson depicts modern log canoe racing on Chesapeake Bay.

Dance on the Silver 34x4 by Charles Raskob Robinson

Michell admired the native boats of the Caribbean

Native Boat - Chris Freeman, MSM Presentation

Native work boats in Nassau

Mystic Seaport Museum

In the 60s, Mitchell photographed the Bermuda fitted dinghy

Mystic Seaport Museum

Caribee Carlton Michell's Rhodes-designed yawl

Audio & Visual Production by Griffin Bengraff

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We visit three radiosailing racing venues to answer the question: "Who frostbites model yachts in NJ?

Out of the bag and ready to sail in 15 minutes

Fully rigged and ready to sail

Launching style off the dock- simple!

Fully rigged and ready to go

Looks like a Laser, sails like a Laser. Hike!!

Waiting for the starting horn

Lining up a start in. 20 knots plus

Light air at the windward mark shuffles the fleet

The long run east to the bottom gate marks

Headed back to the finish, shifty and puffy it is

Fleet Captain Mark D has his gear , his radio and his coffee, that's a great winter radiosailing day

Audio & Visual Production by Griffin Bengraff

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Larchmont Winter Sailing has brought out the best in frostbiting for generations: It's an Ulmer family affair in 2022

Starting is tight with 32 boats on the line.

IC. #702 charges upwind

Finding the lane downwind is the key

Windward heel is the style for ex-collegians

A yellow boat amid a sea of white fiberglass

Tight finishes downwind, hold your breath

Chrissie Klingler in the Ulmer grey boat headed for the starting line....

Start 'em early, tell them nothing...

A beautiful end to a great frostbiting day

Audio & Visual Production by Griffin Bengraff

Watch Peter Taylor’s video slideshow on our Media page!

Visit the Media section

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Winter sailing pioneer and author of Race Your Boat Right, Arthur Knapp, led the way for modern frostbiting at Larchmont YC. A new kind of racing-cold!

The Larchmont. YC Burgee

The boat that launched Race Your Boat. Right, Arthur Knapps's Agony

Winter Sailing Chairman Nick Langone checks the forecast

A new wood stove for the Little Scorpion Club keeps the RC happy

Ever wonder how the RC boat gets to the starting line?

The action is close and competitive

Starting 32 boats can be tricky...

Up Up Up!

"Imp" charges up wind

Crossing tracks downwind

"Anybody see a gate mark here anywhere?"

Things don't always go as planned

1/2

Things don't always go as planned

2/2

The Little Scorpion Trophy 1992- ancient frostbiting history

Audio & Visual Production by Griffin Bengraff

See Peter Taylors slideshow video on our media page!

See Peter’s Slideshow

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EScows, A Cats, Sneakboxes and Duckboats. Part 2 of 2.

Barnegat Bay and the sailing haven of Mantoloking are our sites for exploring the home-grown Bay classes, Sneakboxes and Duckboats, timeless designs from the 19th century brought forward to the modern running of the Duckboat World Championships

Oil paintings courtesy of Charles Raskob Robinson.

Runnie on raft. "1920s"

Emily Wesson pilots La Derrierre, Sneakbox #23

Sneakbox action in the Toms River, 1930s

John Wesson on his way to the Duckboat Worlds

The Wesson family Duck, "Buccaaneer"

To the starting line, World Ducks.

The all important rooster flag(Chasing Roosters)

Tom's Barnegat Bay flag

Charles Raskob Robinson captures the A Cats in oil painting

A Cats before the wind (Oil painting)

Courtesy of Charles Raskob Robinson

Sneakbox on Barnegat Bay

Courtesy of Charles Raskob Robinson

Audio & Visual Production by Griffin Bengraff

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EScows, A Cats, Sneakboxes and Duckboats. Part 1 of 2.

This episode, we go down south to the Jersey Shore, where watermen have plied Barnegat Bay since the European-invasion of the 16th Century. These episodes show a all star cast of the boats that Tom fell in love with: The EBoat or EScow, A Cat, Sneakbox and the Duckboat.

Doctor Britton Chance Escow Zero

Courtesy of John Wesson

Mantoloking Zero Downwind in light air

Courtesy of John Wesson

Hall of Fame Mantoloking sailor Runnie Colie on the Bay with his sister in the 1920s

Source: Chasing Roosters

Sam Merrick, an E Scow Bay legend, in the 1930s

Source: Chasing Roosters

The modern EScow

Source: Chasing Roosters

The "turboed" EScow with asymmetrical chute spinnake

Source: Chasing Roosters

The modern EScow takes flight

Source: Chasing Roosters

E Scow Seaside Park #1 at 20 knots plus

Source: Chasing Roosters

Godfather of the A Cat, Roy Wilkins, drives Spy

Source: Chasing Roosters

A Cats Raven and Witch battle in 20 knots

Source: Chasing Roosters

Where was Gary Jobson in 1966? The Penguin International Junior Championships

Source: Chasing Roosters

The Rooster, emblem of Barnegat Bay Racing

Source: Chasing Roosters

Audio & Visual Production by Griffin Bengraff

Pictures courtesy of Gary Jobson from the book “Chasing Roosters”, published by Nomad Press. Visit the book page here.