Classic Yacht Challenge Series' Maine stretch heads into third weekend following Camden Classics Cup

Classic Yacht Challenge Series' Maine stretch heads into third weekend following Camden Classics Cup © Nathan Pablo

The CYOA's CYCS wrapped up its second of three consecutive weekends of Gulf of Maine racing with the Camden Classics Cup last weekend, July 26 and 27.

The northeast classics fleet races again in Maine this weekend with a series of three distance races: the Castine Classic Yacht Race, the Camden to Brooklin Race, and the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta.

"The end of July and beginning of August bring some of the best sailing conditions in the Gulf of Maine," said CYOA Chair Timmy Dittrich. "The CYCS is designed to take full advantage of it, with back-to-back regattas and scenic distance races along the Downeast coast."

Racing was called off on Friday due to thunderstorms and light air. But Saturday delivered: after the traditional Parade of Sail through Camden Harbor, one race was completed before sailors celebrated at the post-race party hosted by Lyman-Morse.

The weekend also marked a milestone—Black Watch, the legendary 1938 68-foot Sparkman & Stephens yawl, became the first boat to officially qualify for CYCS series awards. The yacht took top honors in her division at Camden and fulfilled the Series qualification requirement of racing in at least five regattas, including one outside her home district.

"We had a great crew onboard and a glorious day of racing at the Camden Classics Cup," said Black Watch captain Kyle Dufur. "We lucked out with a good lay line call and tacked earlier than other boats heading upwind."

Full results from the regatta can be found on Regattaman. It's worth noting for competitors and followers alike that some regattas group boats differently for racing purposes. For Series scoring though, we re-sort the results by CRF Division and corrected time or speed, not the original event class placing. So the finish position at a regatta might differ from the Series Division standing for that particular race.

The CYCS fleet sets sail off of Castine, ME tomorrow, Thursday, July 31, for three distance races running through Saturday, August, 2.

The action begins with the Castine Classic Yacht Race en route back to Camden. "The original intention of the Castine Classic Yacht Race was never to be a stand-alone regatta but rather another event tacked onto the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta (ERR) along with the Camden-Brooklin Feeder Race, both of which had been held for many years before," added race organizer Tom Ashton. "This made the ERR a three-day event celebrating wooden boats (and the ever-growing and popular Spirit of Tradition class) along with friendship, camaraderie, and friendly competition along the coast of Maine."

On Friday, August 1, the Camden to Brooklin Race takes the fleet to its next stop. "The feeder race welcomes boats and programs from across the classic yacht field," added race organizer Jamie Landi. "We have a long history of being a 'come join' event and often celebrate a featured boat on the Thursday evening before the event offering tours and raising funds for the Camden Area Youth Seamanship Program (CAYSP)."

Finally, the weekend wraps up on Saturday with the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta. "The ERR is usually one of the largest wooden boat regattas in terms of participants," race organizer Steve White said. "Our record is 136 and on average we have 90-100 boats enter. We have the full range of boats from Vintage to Spirit of Tradition classes with good numbers in each division. This year we will celebrate our 40th event so we are also one of the oldest regattas [in the series]."

Full results and standings in the CYCS can be found at ClassicYachts.org/results.