Rhode Island Coastal Vibes

[Prairie Schooner]

Perhaps this will not be of interest to everyone, but I’ve enjoyed when others here post pictures from where you sail and interesting boats. Immediately to mind are PNW shots of mountains towering past your sailing grounds or the vast waterfront facilities from the LA area. Bepi’s report on the Amerigo Vespucci was fun.

These are some recent postcards from RI/New England.



This massive vessel has been anchored outside Newport Harbor for a week or two. Formerly Mirabella, now M5. I still can’t get over the float plane on the aft deck.
More info is in this article: https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/editorial-features/sailing-yacht-m5


There is an active fleet of Herreshoff S-Boats in RI and a number of them participate in a weekly race out of Newport. Number 5 is ‘Surprise’, owned by a friend. A recent race was cancelled due to fog so Fred did a couple laps around the harbor for fun.


And, sunset cocktails in our home harbor on the west side of Conanicut Island. Dutch Island and the West Passage of Narragansett Bay in the distance.

Cheers,
Jeff (& Donna)

 

[bsangs]

Great pics Jeff. Still hoping to meet you and Donna when we reach Dutch Harbor in August.

 

[Christian Williams]

M5, Ron Holland, was off Marina del REy two years ago.

Largest Sloop Megayacht by Ron Holland

M5, (ex Mirabella 5 ) anchored yesterday in Santa Monica Bay. The plane is a Carbon Cub, 180 hp, which can carry two people who have won the lottery. As megayachts go, kinda good looking I think. 230 feet, more or less. Said to be the largest sloop ever. Won't fit in the marina. But then...

ericsonyachts.org

 

[Prairie Schooner]

This past Saturday we attended the 46th annual Fools Rules Regatta in Jamestown, Rhode Island. Beach-built boats of non-marine material sail a (usually) downwind course. It’s a lot of fun to watch.

https://jyc.org/wordpress/fools-rules-regatta/

The wind is almost always a southerly, blowing parallel to the beach so boats are typically rigged for DDW. This year it was east-southeast pushing boats into the beach. The designs that could reach a bit faired better. Most of the rudders were useless. I was kind of paying attention to engineering because I’d like to do this event some day. But, it was a hoot to just be a spectator. In the two-person category an older man and his grandson came in second on their shark boat. What a fun memory to make with your grandkids.


This proa design with a sort of main and spinnaker handily won their class.





The Viking boat in Unlimited Class was, naturally, of special interest to us.

 

[Christian Williams]

Inspiration !.

I contemplate digging a boat-shaped hole in the sand and filling it with expanding foam.

My drop cloths would make an artistic sail.

Rudder? No, a long sweep on the stern.

I feel have already won, and am clearing the fireplace mantel for the trophy.