As the seats under the regatta tent began to fill for the Skippers Meeting on Friday morning of the 8th Annual Camden Classics Cup presented by Lyman-Morse, held July 25-27, one thing was clear—it was going to be a great day of racing. Steady 14 to 16 knot winds out of the north and bluebird skies greeted participants on the first day of racing as 88 sailboats, including 57 of the most stunning classic yachts afloat, made their way to Penobscot Bay.
“The first day of racing was fantastic,” said Drew Lyman, Lyman-Morse president/owner. “We had a northerly, which is a little bit underheard of, but the breeze was up. When you're dealing with the winds off the mountains and the great Camden hills, it's hard to judge where the pockets and shifts are, it challenges even the best sailors. It was a challenging day, but I think everyone had a lot of fun.”
Lyman's assessment of the day was spot-on. All along the The Wharf at Lyman-Morse during the dockside cocktails Friday night, there were smiling sailors, tired but happy after a great day on the water. Saturday morning, before anyone made their way to the racecourse, participants readied their boats for the Parade of Sail. And it is during this event that you really get to see what the Camden Classics Cup has become. Now in its eighth year, this premier classic sailing event has become something that not only the sailing community looks forward to, but the greater Camden community as well.
“How this event ties into the town, the community involvement and level of engagement, it's really grown over the last eight years,” Lyman said. “Now, when we start getting ready for the event, everyone reaches out to ask how they can help—the inn keepers, the hotels, the restaurants on the other side of the harbor—everyone is reaching out. Before, it was us going to them. I think the community has really embraced the event. And the Parade of Sail, that ties it all together, the crowds get bigger every year.” “I've been familiar with the regatta for a while, but this is my first time here, and I have to say, this is really something,” said Jonathan Ogle, a Maine Maritime Academy grad (class of '82) who is now based in Oakland, California, and was sailing aboard the MMA boat Wizard, a 1930 Fishers Island 31. “The last time I was here this was still Wayfarer Marine.
What Lyman has done is incredible. A lot of the sailing around here is fantastic, but the accommodations are typically pretty spartan. The facilities here are top-notch, it's really impressive.” And while Friday certainly proved to be the windier of the two days of racing, after a brief delay of the start, Saturday ended up better than everyone had expected, as the winds filled in out of the south and competitors saw gusts up into the high teens. “We had a great day, there was more breeze than we anticipated having,” said Dennis Gun-derson, skipper of Gleam, a 1937 12-Metre class yacht. “We need upper teens toward 20 knots to really do our thing, and we found it as we headed south on a nice long upwind beat, which was terrific. We rounded the top mark and it started to soften as we made our way back to Camden, and some of our competition managed to chew back into us, but it was a terrific day and a terrific weekend. Two great days of sailing.”
One aspect of the Camden Classics Cup that has seen a surge in interest over the last few years is the Camden Classics Cup Youth Regatta. Organized by the Camden Area Youth Seamanship Program (CAYSP), which teaches 6- to 17-year-olds about the power of wind and water, safety measures, basic navigation, and more, the Youth Regatta saw a record 94-sailors on the water competing for 10 different area yacht clubs across four classes. “I've always said, the Youth Regatta is the part of this event that needs to be the most successful,” Lyman said. “Hearing that the kids are excited, it's the most enjoyable part for me. Because that's the future, right? Bringing in the kids, getting them excited about one day being on these big boats, tying in the community and the local yacht clubs, that's the goal.”
And if the future is the participants in the Youth Regatta, then the future is in good hands. After the races, as the kids gathered under the tent for some pizza and the awards announcements, tired and hot but happy to have been sailing and to see their friends, you could feel the energy. It was sport as it should be—competitive but respectful, lighthearted but serious, and very, very fun.
Those high spirits and excitement levels were extra high, as just before the awards were announced, the Youth Regatta participants were treated to a talk from Ronnie Simpson, a professional sailor who skipped the Open 50 Shipyard Brewing in the 2023-2024 Global Solo Challenge, a singlehanded non-stop round-the-world race. Simpson was dismasted 600 miles of Argentina after rounding Cape Horn and was forced to abandon ship. Needless to say, stories of his adventures and the lessons learned had a tent full of young sailors on the edge of their seats. After all the racing was done and the scores were tallied for the Youth Regatta, it was the Tarratine Yacht Club in first and second places for the 420 Non-Spinnaker class, with the Castine Yacht Club sailors taking third.
In the 420 Spinnaker class, local racers from the Camden Area Youth Seamanship Program took the top spot, with the Bucks Harbor Yacht Club coming in second, and Harraseeket Yacht Club coming in third. In the Optimist classes, it was Harraseeket Yacht Club taking first and third in the Optimist Championship, with Bucks Harbor Yacht Club taking second, and in the Optimist Green class Harraseeket Yacht Club again took top honors, with the Camden Area Youth Seamanship Program coming in second, and North Haven Casino coming in third.
Saturday night, as the sun set over Mt. Battie, the boisterous celebrations in and around the regatta tent briefly quieted just long enough for the results to be announced. In the Classics class, it was Otter, Robert Keefer and Sue Pfau's 1954 Concordia 41, that took home the overall first place for the class, with Andrew Breece and George E. Gans III's 1961, 39-foot Concordia yawl, Snow Falcon, coming in second overall, and Emery James' Buzzards Bay 25, Lilith, coming in third.
Competition was tight in the CRF Schooner and Gaff class, and while the top of the leaderboard looked familiar to last year's results, this year it was Phineas Sprague Jr.'s 74-foot staysail schooner Lion's Whelp who came out on top, bumping Lars Forsberg's 47-foot staysail schooner Spirit into second place. Nigel Bower's 65-foot Heron completed the class's top trifecta, once again rounding out the standings with a third-place finish. In the highly competitive Modern Tradition class, a combination of Spirit of Tradition, Modern Classic & Contemporary classes, it was Jax, a 43-foot Botin Partners-designed wood and carbon hybrid racing boat built by Brooklin Boat Yard and the class scratch boat, that came out on top, with a commanding performance throughout the two days of racing.
(In addition to winning their class, Jax took home the Lyman-Morse Trophy, a recognition of overall excellence in the Spirit of Tradition, Modern Classic & Contemporary classes.) Connell Cannon and Matthew Reinhardt's Verissimo, a 63-foot Alden built in 1998, came in second overall, and Jack LeFort's Tink, a 2002 Eggemoggin 47 built by Brooklin Boat Yard, came in third. And while most of the boats on the starting line were stunning classic beauties, one of the great parts of the Camden Classics Cup's big-tent approach to the regatta is there's plenty of room for more modern racer-cruisers as well, and the competition in the 15-boat-strong PHRF Spinnaker class didn't disappoint. Tamarack, Geoff Emanuel and Bob Kellogg's Baltic Farr 44, proved to be the boat to beat, taking the top spot over John Wilkinson's J/122 Wild Blue, which came in second, and Tio Loco, Henry Bauer's Club Swan 42, coming in third. In the PHRF Cruising class, Jonathan Frye sailed to first place aboard his Alerion 38, Joy, beating out Cache, David Watson's Oyster 745, who took home second place, and Penn Lindsay's Hinckley 41, Revel, who took home third.
Another great addition to the on-the-water competition in the Camden Classics Cup is in the Day Racers classes, where the boats might be smaller, but the competition is just as fierce. Paul Koch and his crew aboard Ponyo, his Camden Class Sloop, took first place in the Day Racer 1 class, with Lordship, Peter Chandler and Justin Ward's Small Point One Design, taking second, and Andrew Norris' 15 Square Meter class Vixen bringing home third. In the Day Racer 2 class it was Jeff Serrie's Dark Harbor 17.5, Frolic, a one-design class originally built for the nearby Tarratine Club of Dark Harbor on Islesboro, Maine, that took home the top spot—and the overall Day Racer Trophy, presented by Artisan Boatworks. Francis, Phillip Bloom's Wianno Senior, and Indigo, Paul Hamlin's Quickstep 24, rounded out the podium, with second and third places finishes, respectively.
The highlight of the weekend for many was watching the grande dames of the CRF Vintage class battle it out on the course, and this year's regatta did not disappoint. After the results were tallied, it was Black Watch, Peter McCausland's 68-foot 1938 Sparkman & Stephens yawl, that stood atop the podium, beating out Marilee, Ken Colburn's 1926 Herreshoff-designed NY40, which took home second, and Peter Cassidy's New York 32, Siren, which took third. “Black Watch came to race, that's for sure,” said Trippe Duke, crewmember abord Marilee. “We took first against them in the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club regatta last week, so they came out with a bit of a chip on their shoulder, I think. Now we're tied at one apiece going into the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta, so we'll have a rubber match on our hands.” Black Watch not only took overall first place in the Vintage class, they also took home the coveted Camden Classics Cup trophy when all was said and done.
A beautiful part of the Camden Classics Cup is how it brings so many likeminded people—from the sailors to the owners to the spectators— together for one great weekend. And of course, that also means our fantastic sponsors.
“We're proud to be a part of the Camden Classics Cup, this is always a great event, and this year was no different,” said Nate Hathaway of theHurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership, a sponsor of the event. “Sailors like being on the water, they like clean water, they like pristine coastlines, they tend to have an appreciation for the culture that surrounds it, and a lot of the maritime traditions that healthy marine ecosystems traditionally support. And that's every bit of what we perpetuate.” The Camden Classics Cup would like to thank Presenting Sponsor Lyman-Morse, Admiral Sponsors Stephens Waring Design, and Commodore Sponsor USI Insurance. We would also like to thank our Partner Sponsors, AwlGrip, Browne Trading Company, Teakdecking Systems, A.G.A Correa & Son, Volvo Penta, Artisan Boatworks, Blue Barren Distillery, and newcomer Spirit Yachts; and our Marine Sponsors, including Epifanes Yacht Coatings, Sea Bags, OpBox, Whispering Angel, LandVest, French & Brawn, Camden Real Estate Company, and Trade Wind Aviation.
We would also like to thank our Classic Sponsors, including First National Bank, WRI Weather Routing, P.G. Wiley & Company, Shipyard/ Sea Dog Brewing, FNV Boat Works Inc., Hamilton Marine, Lajoie Bros. Inc., Block Rock Boat Works, Maximum Weather Insurance, Aeré Docking Solutions, Jeff's Marine, Stella Artois, Mast Landing Brewing Company, Merrill Wise & Teague Group, The Monument Group, Goslings, the Maine Community Foundation, and Clark Insurance; and our Local Sponsors, including Water Front, Rock Coast Plumbing & Heating, Brian Wickenden and Lois Lengyel of Sotheby's International Realty and Legacy Properties, 250 Main Hotel, The Landing School, Salt Wharf Restaurant, Gartley & Dorsky, Allen Insurance & Financial, Boxed Water, Dockwa, and First National Bank Wealth Management.
The Camden Classics Cup's Media Sponsors are WoodenBoat magazine, The Boat Show TV, DownEast magazine, Blue Creative Group, MaineStay Media, Points East magazine, Ocean Navigator, and Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors. And last but certainly not least, we'd like to thank the Town of Camden, the Camden Area Youth Seamanship Program, and the Classic Yacht Owners Association.
A portion of all Camden Classics Cup entry fees go to benefit Life- Flight of Maine, a nonprofit and the state's only air ambulance service. To date, the event has raised over $95,000 for LifeFlight of Maine. For more information about the regatta, including the complete 2024 results, please visit camdenclassicscup.com.
