Sailing

Record-setting performance at Jackson Cup Regatta launches season

Record-setting performance at Jackson Cup Regatta launches season

The Boston Yacht Club hosted its 27th annual Jackson Cup last weekend — the first big sailing event of the season. This weekend's Jackson Cup regatta, hosted by the Boston Yacht Club, launched Marblehead's sailing season. COURTESY PHOTO / BRUCE DURKEE The Larchmont Yacht Club of Larchmont, New York, wowed with a record-setting, undefeated score of 17 wins and 0 losses. Marblehead’s Eastern Yacht Club came in second, followed by The Royal Thames Yacht Club from the United Kingdom and the Ida Lewis Yacht Club…
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MYC faces roof, fire system upgrades amid inspection push

MYC faces roof, fire system upgrades amid inspection push

The Marblehead Yacht Club is facing a series of required renovations after a recent round of inspections uncovered code and safety issues, according to Harbormaster Mark Souza. Founded in 1978, MYC is the town’s oldest yacht club. The property, at 4 Cliff St., is owned by the town. The issues came to light as the club sought an alcohol license, a step that triggered broader oversight from town departments. “You’re required to go to the Select Board to get that license, which in turn activates…
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Repairs could top $300K for Stramski’s Pier after sailboat crash

Repairs could top $300K for Stramski’s Pier after sailboat crash

Repairs are being planned for Stramski's Pier after a runaway sailboat broke free from its mooring during a February 23-25 blizzard and slammed into the structure, causing significant damage. Ultimately, repairs may cost around $300,000.  Harbormaster Mark Souza declined to release the name of the boat or its owner. The incident occurred in Salem Harbor, when a Marblehead vessel drifted and struck the town-owned pier, a key access point for local boaters and sailing programs. Souza said the town is now working to make the…
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Boston Yacht Club racing season opens with 27th Jackson Cup

Boston Yacht Club racing season opens with 27th Jackson Cup

Sailors from some of the most prestigious yacht clubs across the United STates and the United Kingdom are converging on Marblehead later this month as the Boston Yacht Club opens its racing season with the 27th annual Jackson Cup team race regatta. An image from last year's Jackson Cup regatta out of the BYC. COURTESY PHOTO / BRUCE DURKEE A total of eight teams will compete in the event which will take place in Marblehead Harbor on April 25 and 26, starting at 9:15 a.m. …
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Remembering Marblehead mariners lost 50 years ago

Remembering Marblehead mariners lost 50 years ago

The recent fishing vessel tragedy in Gloucester comes as Marblehead remembers local fishermen lost at sea 50 years ago.  In the last days of January 1976, Marbleheaders Steven “Leroy” Haynes, 26, and Capt. Steven “Stevie” Goodwin, 31, died alongside Stephen Kelly, 32, of Newport, Rhode Island, and Candice Stuart, 21, of Newport and Sarasota, Florida, aboard the steel-hulled lobstering vessel, Zubenelgenubi. The 60-foot craft, named for a quadruple star system in the constellation Libra, left Newport on Jan. 18 on what Goodwin described to his…
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Literary Tradition: Marblehead tradition reborn as ‘Side Launch’ sails worldwide

Literary Tradition: Marblehead tradition reborn as ‘Side Launch’ sails worldwide

Laurie Fullerton, the Current’s sailing reporter, published her first novel, “Side Launch,” last summer — little knowing it would become an international sensation of sorts. The book follows a journalist who moves to the fictional Maine town of Clydebank to write for a local newspaper. There, she stumbles upon a ramshackle shipyard and meets a local man determined to build a 70-foot wooden schooner using traditional shipbuilding techniques long forgotten by most. Since the novel’s release, Fullerton’s friends, neighbors and even her Marblehead High School…
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Harbor honor for Marblehead

Harbor honor for Marblehead

Marblehead Harbor has won a top award from marinas.com, being named an Elite Fleet winner for 2025. According to Marinas.com, Elite Fleet marinas “went above and beyond to delight boaters in 2025, maintaining an average star rating of at least 4.7 and receiving at least 10 reviews throughout the year." Marblehead Harbor has won marinas.com Boater’s Choice awards dating back to 2009.
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Local man shares stories from decades on the sea

Local man shares stories from decades on the sea

Sailor David Gold, 77, spends every summer in Marblehead and the rest of the year is based in Geneva, Switzerland where he’s an expert on health and safety culture in the workplace. Formerly, he worked for the International Labor Office (a United Nations specialized agency) for 23 years, which allowed him the opportunity to work in many countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, the Arab states, North and South America and Oceania. He is fluent in French with a working knowledge of German, Malay,…
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‘Header wins Etchells New England Championship in home waters

‘Header wins Etchells New England Championship in home waters

The 2025 Etchells New England Championship marked the final regatta of the sailing season featuring an overall win by Marblehead native and sailmaker Jud Smith of the Eastern Yacht Club and his teammates Steve Girling and Lars Ozell with 28 points. Marblehead sailmaker Jud Smith won the Ethchells New England Championship. COURTESY PHOTO / BRUCE DURKEE Thirty boats were on the starting line at this late-season event hosted by the Boston Yacht Club and held Friday, Oct. 11 and Sat., Oct 12. Trimmed down from…
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CURRENT EVENTS: Marblehead’s best bets

CURRENT EVENTS: Marblehead’s best bets

Current Events spotlights exciting happenings in the coming days. If you’d like to contribute a listing, please email Current Editor Leigh Blander at lblander@marbleheadnews.org. Jazz at the ArtsThursday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m. The Marblehead Arts Association and Gene Arnould present Debby Larkin and the Jeff Stout Quintet as a part of a Jazz at the Arts concert series. Doors at 8 Hooper St. open at 6:30 p.m. There will be a cash bar. Tickets, $35, can be purchased at marbleheadarts.org or the Arnould Gallery, 111…
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