July 2026

 

On the Line July 2026 View this email in your browser

Click here for the D7 website to see the season schedule and find a fleet near you Upcoming Regattas and Announcements   Late July and August will offer up excellent ILCA sailing and Grand Prix opportunities.Links to regatta registrations are in the schedule below. Helly Hansen Marblehead Race Week, July 25-25, Eastern YC, Marblehead, MA Marblehead Race Week is a classic. The festivities on shore are matched by excellent racing at the mouth of Marblehead Harbor. It's an easy launch from the Pleon ramp and lots of fun afterwards under the big tent. Stone Horse Clinic (July 31-Aug 1) and Regatta (Aug 2) This is a great opportunity to hone your skills with an experienced coach for two days and then put them to the test in a regatta the next day. Stone Horse has a beautiful beach launch and access to Cape Cod breezes.  Learn and then apply your new skills on the race course! Regatta Sunday August 2nd: Registration for the annual Stone Horse ILCA regatta is now live. The NOR and SI are now published., We warmly welcome ILCA sailors from other clubs. There will be both ILCA 6 and 7 fleets.   ILCA Skills Clinic Friday-Saturday July 31-August 2nd: Registration for ILCA clinic is also now live. Harris Padegs, Connecticut College's interim head sailing coach will be our instructor.   Event details and registration links are available at the SHYC Racing website page, here. By the way, you can sail at Stone Horse all summer in their weekly races: The Stone Horse Yacht Club ILCA fleet is well into its weekly race schedule on Nantucket Sound just off our beach. Every Sunday, our PRO gets things underway at 9:30 am and runs 5-6 races, with prizes to follow. Its a great way to cap off our weekends. We'll continue these outings until Labor Day. District 7 ILCA sailors are more than welcome to join -  no need to pre-register. Contact me: James Nicol for more information 518-368-9959 Taylor Pond ILCA Invitational, Aug 1st, Taylor Pond YC, Auburn, ME Enjoy a day of racing on Maine's premier flat water venue.  Racing followed by fellowship on the porch. Registration is open. Buzzards Bay ILCA Masters Championship, Aug 8-9, New Bedford Club, New Bedford, MA For those of you who didn't get enough big wind at the recent Hyannis North American Masters, here's your opportunity to experience Cape summer breezes at a classic D7 event.    Malletts Bay Boat Club ILCA D7 Vermont Open, Aug 22-23, MBBC Colchester, VT Scoring count twice for the 2026 Grand Prix!! Malletts Bay Boat Club (MBBC) is hosting the Vermont leg of the District 7 Laser Gran Prix Regatta series on August 22-23.  MBBC is located on Lake Champlain just north of Burlington, Vermont.  It's a beautiful regatta venue with sailing on Malletts Bay, protected from large waves yet unobstructed breezes.  The Club has a long history of hosting large regattas including the Lightning Worlds and J24 and Laser National Championships.  This event counts twice for the Grand Prix. Come support lake sailing in D7.    Lake Sunapee Yacht Club One Design Regatta, Aug 29-30, Sunapee YC, Sunapee, NH Lake Sunapee is hosting the 2026 New Hampshire Grand Prix event. I was lucky enough to attend this regatta last year, and it was a blast. The club is welcoming and race course just off the clubhouse porch.     District News 2026 D7 Championship, Portland YC, June 13-14 Portland Yacht Club hosted a fantastic D7 2026 Championship. The event started with wonderful clinic on Friday led by Tomas Guaragna Rigonat, PYC coach and podium finisher at the ILCA South American Championships. After a chalk-talk on starting that had us all scribbling, we headed out for a number of practice starts and drills and a big dose of Maine pea soup fog which sent us home for the afternoon. On Saturday and Sunday, forty-four boats competed over two very different days just southwest of Clapboard Island. Day one offered a tricky westerly coming off Prince's Point. You could go left, as most of the fleet did, and find some decent breeze and a lift at the top to the mark, or you could go right to ride the tide and find your own lift. Yes, a head scratcher with a good dose of seaweed that required constant vigilance.  Sailing is fun, especially when the host provides a warm and welcoming sit-down dinner. We all ate a lot of pasta and pesto chicken. My little group cornered the PRO to say thanks for running a super tricky day. Sunday brought a strong sea breeze and a building chop against the outgoing tide. The big boys shook off their less-than-stellar performance on day one and hiked their way to glory, but we all had a great time. I don't know his name but one young sailor, who could not have weighed in at more than a buck twenty, rode the full rig with a smile on his face saying "I'm way too small for this thing." In the ILCA 6, Chris Schreiber took honors with just 7 points over 6 races.  Marblehead phenom Anne Marije Veenland-Lee took second and Erica Beck Spencer rounded out the podium. In the ILCA 7, Scott Sydney, who will going forward be known as Slippery Scott, dropped a 4th place finish to achieve a picket fence over the other 6 races, in a borrowed hull nonetheless.. (Scott just bought a boat and placed second at the Hyannis NA Masters last weekend, so look out) Mark Bear, always a big threat and a huge supporter of ILCA sailing, took second. Bill Rothwell, Marblehead regular on the podium, came in third with a steady performance across every wind condition. A huge thanks to the Casco Bay Fleet Captain, Justice Pollard for organizing an excellent event and to the entire PYC crew for welcoming us to their beautiful corner of the world. 2026 D7 Grand Prix Update June saw our first two Grand Prix events: The D7 Championship and the John Bentley Regatta. Mea Culpa: I am behind on calculating the standings for this years Grand Prix, but I promise an update in August. Speaking of which, there will be two great Gran Prix events in August: The Malletts Bay ILCA D7 Vermont open, August 22-23 and the Lake Sunapee Yacht Club Open Regatta August 29-30.  Attend both to win points toward our first prize of a free tuition to the International Sailing Academy, a world leader in ILCA training.   2026 District 7 Regattas and Series Start Dates  Date Counts towards D7 Gran Prix? Notes Under the Rope April 4   Eastern YC, Marblehead, MA Show up at 11 AM & register on site. Prizes and party afterwards. Contact tomdailey15@gmail.com Peter Milnes Regatta April 25   Fleet 413, Newport, RI Atlantic Coast Masters May 16-17   Niantic Bay YC, Niantic, CT Cedar Point YC Vice Commodore’s Cup May 24   Cedar Point YC, Westport, CT First warning is 13:00, Contact cpyclaser@gmail.com  Wickford Regatta June 6-7   Wickford YC, Wickford, RI D7 Championship June 13-14 Y Portland YC, Falmouth, ME John Bentley Regatta June 27 Y New Bedford YC, South Dartmouth, MA Cedar Point YC Commodore’s Cup July 3   Cedar Point YC, Westport, CT First warning is 13:00, Contact cpylaser@gmail.com  Spencer True Blue Regatta July 11-12   Practice Day 11th, Regatta the 12th, Kollegewidgwok YC, Blue Hill, ME Newport Regatta July 11-12   Sail Newport, Newport, RI North American Masters July 17-19   Hyannis YC, Hyannis, MA  Hyannis YC Regatta July 18-19   Hyannis YC, Hyannis, MA  Helly Hansen Marblehead Race Week July 25-26   Eastern YC, Marblehead, MA Taylor Pond ILCA Invitational Aug 1   Taylor Pond YC, Auburn ME. Contact petergarcia207@gmail.com Stone Horse ILCA Clinic July 31 -  Aug 1   Stone Horse YC, Harwich, MA, open clinic, Contact jnicol12211@yahoo.com  Stone Horse ILCA Regatta August 2nd   Stone Horse YC, Harwich, MA (Follows clinic on Aug 1) Buzzards Bay ILCA Masters Championship Aug 8-9   New Bedford YC, New Bedford, MA MBBC ILCA D7 Vermont Open Aug 22-23 Y Colchester, VT Lake Sunapee Yacht Club Open Regatta Aug 29-30 Y Sunapee, NH Cedar Point YC Rear Commodore’s Cup Sept 7   Cedar Point YC, Westport, CT First warning is 13:00, Contact cpylaser@gmail.com  Massapoag 75th Annual Small Boats Regatta TBD   Sharon, MA Winnipesaukee YC ILCA Regatta Sept. 12   Gilford, NH New England Masters Sept. 12-13   Wickford YC, Wickford, RI Ponce De Leon Regatta Sept 13   Eastern YC, Marblehead, MA. Show up at 11 AM & register on site. Prizes and party afterwards. Contact tomdailey15@gmail.com CT D7 Grand Prix October 3rd Y Duck Island YC, Westbrook, CT Series Start Date: Bristol YC 2026-27 Frostbite  October 24   Contact Dave Gunther for more information: dave.guinther@yahoo.com Hyannis YC Oktoberfest Regatta 2025 TBD   Hyannis YC, Hyannis, MA Great annual event! Turkey Bowl Nov 22   Eastern YC, Marblehead, MA Show up at 11 AM & register on site. Prizes and party afterwards. Contact tomdailey15@gmail.com Fat Boys TBD Y Fleet 413, Newport, CT Green highlighting means the regatta counts towards the 2026 D7 Grand Prix