One of the most serious, privately campaigned British offshore race boats will be on the start line of the Transatlantic Race 2019 when the fleet sets sail from Newport, R.I., bound for Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, on Tuesday, June 25.
Despite only being three years old, Giles Redpath’sPata Negrahas already completed two Atlantic laps. Last year alone she competed in the Newport Bermuda Race and the Atlantic Anniversary Regatta to Hamburg, Germany, which celebrated the 150th anniversary of the German yacht club Norddeutscher Regatta Verein. The 46-footer then went on to win the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s grueling Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race before returning westbound in the RORC Transatlantic Race.
Ninety days from today—on Tuesday, June 25—a fleet of 20-plus yachts is scheduled to depart from Newport, R.I., and head eastwards across “the Pond” in the Transatlantic Race 2019. The reasons for competing are unique to each sailor, but often range from a personal challenge to simply wanting to sail an ocean race.
Among the fleet will be a handful of classic ocean racing yachts. A classic yacht stands the test of time by being a leading design of its day and still successful decades later. Retired architect Hiroshi Nakajima (Stamford, Conn.) will be at the helm of one such yacht, Hiro Maru.
The Transatlantic Race 2019 is organized jointly by the Royal Yacht Squadron, New York Yacht Club, Royal Ocean Racing Club and Storm Trysail Club. The race is a direct descendant of the first great transatlantic ocean race, which started from New York Harbor on December 11, 1866. The 2019 edition will be the 31st transatlantic race organized by the New York Yacht Club, and it remains one of the sport’s most enticing challenges.
Read more: Nakajima's Hiro Maru Lends Historical Adornment to Transatlantic Race 2019
Few sailors, if any, on the starting line of the Transatlantic Race 2019 will have more offshore racing sea miles under their keels than Jean-Pierre Dick. A veteran of four Vendée Globe singlehanded non-stop around the world races and winner of two Barcelona World Races (doublehanded non-stop around the world), Dick is one of the most prominent figures within the elite offshore sailing community in France, the world’s most successful offshore yacht racing nation.
The Transatlantic Race 2019, scheduled to start Tuesday, June 25, off Newport, R.I., is organized jointly by the Royal Yacht Squadron, New York Yacht Club, Royal Ocean Racing Club and Storm Trysail Club. The race is a direct descendant of the first great transatlantic ocean race, which started from New York Harbor on December 11, 1866. The 2019 edition will be the 31st transatlantic race organized by the New York Yacht Club, and it remains one of the sport’s most enticing challenges. The race will start off Castle Hill Lighthouse in Newport on Tuesday, June 25.
The majority of famous French shorthanded sailors herald from Brittany and graduate up to IMOCA 60s after showing success in the more modest Class 40s, Mini or Figaro classes. Dick, however, came from a business background; he is a qualified veterinary surgeon and also has an advanced business degree. He spent 10 years working at Virbac, his family’s successful pet pharmaceuticals company, originally based in Nice. Today the company is listed on the Paris stock exchange and its products are sold globally.
Read more: Round-the-World Veteran to Take The Kid Transatlantic in TR2019
NEWPORT, R.I. — After a hard-earned third-place finish in IRC Class 3 in the 2015 Transatlantic Race, the Prospector team is back with a new boat, many of the same crew and an itch to better their performance from four years ago.
The Transatlantic Race 2019, scheduled to start Tuesday, June 25, off Newport, R.I., is organized jointly by the Royal Yacht Squadron, New York Yacht Club, Royal Ocean Racing Club and Storm Trysail Club. The race is a direct descendant of the first great transatlantic ocean race, which started from New York Harbor on December 11, 1866. The 2019 edition will be the 31st transatlantic race organized by the New York Yacht Club, and it remains one of the sport’s most enticing challenges. The race will start off Castle Hill Lighthouse in Newport on Tuesday, June 25.
The Prospector team—led by Paul McDowell, Dr. David Siwicki and Larry Landry (left to right in photo at left), and Marty Roesch (not pictured) and managed by Landry and McDowell—is one of five returning entries from the Transatlantic Race 2015. Landry, McDowell and Siwicki, along with three others, entered the 2015 race as a challenge to themselves. They’d been racing with and against each other for many years and were eager to add the transatlantic passage to their collective sailing passport.
Read more: Prospector Team Digs in For a Second Go at Transatlantic Race
For Joe Mele, a 55-year-old retired doctor of internal medicine in New York City and fantastical stunt diver, ocean racing is about more than the competition.
“I love the fact that it’s not just a race, but sort of an adventure,” said Mele, a gregarious skipper with a strong affinity for offshore racing. “It takes a tremendous amount of coordination to build the crew and manage the logistics. You’re out there for an extended period of time, and there’s tremendous camaraderie when you’re lucky enough to put together a good crew where you feed off each other and improve.”
Mele’s program focuses almost exclusively on point-to-point racing aboard his Cookson 50 Triple Lindy (above). He’s logged more than 8,700 nautical miles offshore since 2003, and next summer he plans to add another 3,000 to his resume by participating in the granddaddy of them all, the Transatlantic Race 2019.
Read more: Mele's Offshore Evolution to Continue at Transatlantic Race 2019
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