Classic Yachts Participate in Herreshoff "Rendezvous 2006"

The Pusser's bar ready for customers

New England clams bite the dust.

A happy prize winner with his Pusser's Flagon

On Saturday, August 26 and Sunday, August 27, classic yachts from across the country gathered at the Herreshoff Marine Museum, Bristol, Rhode Island, for two days of racing on Narragansett Bay. Sponsored by The Herreshoff Marine Museum/America's Cup Hall of Fame, the Herreshoff "Rendezvous 2006" featured beautifully restored vintage Herreshoff yachts and other classic boats in a series of races Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's races were held in the waters off Bristol. Sunday's schedule included S-Boat racing and the William Swan Memorial race from Bristol to Newport for large yachts. In addition, the Narragansett Bay Yachting Association (NBYA) held races in conjunction with Rendezvous.

On Saturday forty-one yachts in five classes raced under tricky wind conditions. They sailed Upper Narragansett Bay in challenging courses that Pete Lawson, Race Committee Chairman, warned beforehand would perhaps require 'creativity' to deal with the unusual easterly early-morning breeze, which freshened into the more typical southerly by afternoon.

The Herreshoff Rendezvous always provides a unique opportunity to see a large number of vintage yachts under sail and 2006's event was no exception. 12s, first built at the Herreshoff yard in 1914, and S-Boats, which have been racing on Narragansett Bay for 60 consecutive summers, were well-represented in the fleet of smaller boats. There were more than a dozen racing in the large boats class. RUGOSA II (1926), a NY 40 yawl, the 58 ft. Herreshoff P-class sloop JOYANT (1912), and the Herreshoff 64 ft. schooner MARY ROSE (1926) lead the fleet of larger Herreshoff-designed boats. The 42 ft. S&S RORC masthead sloop PROSPECT OF WHITBY, NOR'EASTER, an Alden Q10 class, and the 6 Metre FLAPPER were among the distinctive non-Herreshoff classics racing.

On Saturday evening 250 guests enjoyed a cocktail reception under the Museum�s waterfront tent featuring Pusser's Rum; as usual the "Pusser's Painkiller", served in the Pusser's Herreshoff Classic Regatta mug, proved very popular with the guests. A traditional New England clambake followed. The evening's festivities culminated with the presentation of trophies to Saturday�s race winners. In addition the schooner MARY ROSE (1926) was awarded The Carlton J. Pinheiro Memorial award for "Most Authentic Herreshoff Restoration". and FLAPPER, a 1938 6 Metre, was honored as "Best Restored Classic Yacht".

The festivities also included a birthday party. 2006 marks the 80th birthday of three Herreshoff yachts, all built simultaneously in 1926 and all still actively sailing today: RUGOSA II and MARILEE, the last two New York 40s built at the Herreshoff yard, and the schooner MARY ROSE. MARILEE, winner of the Concours d�Elegance Vintage Class at the 2003 Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta, is currently sailing in the Med. RUGOSA II, sailed by Halsey C. Herreshoff, made a transatlantic crossing in 2001and won the Vintage Class of the Cowes Jubilee, which commemorated the 150th anniversary of the America�s Cup, and continues her 60-year racing career from her homeport in Bristol. Keeping the Herreshoff tradition alive in Antigua by capturing 2nd place in 2006�s Concours d�Elegance Vintage Class, schooner MARY ROSE is about to embark upon a circumnavigation that will find her plying the waters of the South Pacific next year.

Next year's regatta is already in the planning stages. As in the past, this annual event will be held during the last weekend in August and will provide a chance for vintage yachts to gather for racing and camaraderie.