Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or other fixed navigational devices or racing longer distances across open water from point-to-point. It can involve a series of races when buoy racing or multiple legs when point-to-point racing.
A maxi yacht usually refers to a racing yacht of at least 70 feet (21 m) in length.
Cowes Week is one of the longest-running regular regattas in the world. With 40 daily sailing races, up to 1,000 boats, and 8,000 competitors ranging from Olympic and world-class professionals to weekend sailors, it is the largest sailing regatta of its kind in the world. Having started in 1826, the event is held in August each year on the Solent, and is run by Cowes Week Limited in the small town of Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
World Sailing (WS) is the world governing body for the sport of sailing recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
A regatta is a series of boat races. The term comes from the Venetian-Italian language regata meaning "contest" and typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas. A regatta often includes social and promotional activities which surround the racing event, and except in the case of boat type championships, is usually named for the town or venue where the event takes place.
The SB20 is a one-design class of sailboat commonly used for racing. Marketed and distributed by Sportsboat World the boat was designed by Tony Castro and launched in 2002.
The Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race (MHOR) is a biennial sailing race which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2005. It runs between Marblehead, Massachusetts and Halifax, Nova Scotia. It is believed to be the longest running offshore ocean race in the world and is considered one of the pre-eminent ocean races of the North Atlantic.
The Redhouse Yacht Club (RYC), which is amongst the oldest yacht clubs in South Africa, hosts large dinghy races, and operates a training program that has produced international champion sailors.
The Newport Bermuda Race, commonly known as the Bermuda Race, is a biennial, 635 nautical miles (1175 km) sailing yacht race from Newport, Rhode Island to the island of Bermuda. According to its website, the Race is the oldest regularly scheduled ocean race, and one of two regularly scheduled races "held almost entirely out of sight if land." Indian Harbor Yacht Club has recorded more entries in the Newport Bermuda Race than any other yacht club in the world.
Sailing has been one of the Olympic sports since the Games of the I Olympiad, held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. Despite being scheduled in the first Olympic program, the races were canceled due to severe weather conditions. Apart from the 1904 Summer Olympics, sailing has been present in every edition of the Olympic Games.
IRC is a system of handicapping sailboats and yachts for the purpose of racing. It is managed by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in the United Kingdom through their dedicated Rating Office. and UNCL in France.
Scandinavian Gold Cup is a sailing race held annually for 5.5 metre yachts. It is a nation race, meaning that each participant nation can send only one boat/team. Despite its name, it has been an international competition almost through its entire history, and participating is not limited to Scandinavian nations. The event has been held every year since 1919 making it one of the oldest active sailing trophies.
The International Measurement System (IMS) is a system of handicapping sailboats for the purpose of racing that replaced the earlier International Offshore Rule (IOR) system in the early 1990s. It is managed by the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC). In the sailing world it is usually referred to simply as 'IMS'.
The Offshore Racing Congress Rule is a system of handicapping sailboats for the purpose of racing. It is managed by the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) and is usually referred to in the sailing community simply as "ORC". ORC is an enhanced version of the earlier IMS handicapping system that was used globally from the early 1990s to the early 2000s.
The Nautical Club of Thessaloniki is a sports club based in Kalamaria, Thessaloniki, Greece. The club is commonly known by the acronym NCTH (ΝΟΘ).
The sport of sailing involves a variety of competitive sailing formats that are sanctioned through various sailing federations and yacht clubs. Racing disciplines include matches within a fleet of sailing craft, between a pair thereof or among teams. Additionally, there are specialized competitions that include setting speed records. Racing formats include both closed courses and point-to-point contests; they may be in sheltered waters, coast-wise or on the open ocean. Most competitions are held within defined classes or ratings that either entail one type of sailing craft to ensure a contest primarily of skill or rating the sailing craft to create classifications or handicaps.
The Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) is an international body for the sport of competitive sailing and is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of rating and classification standards used to define offshore, that is marine as opposed to inland, yacht racing handicap categories.
Half Ton class was an offshore sailing class of the International Offshore Rule racing the Half Ton Cup between 1967 and 1993.
Alan Smith is a New Zealand sailor who has sailed at the Summer Olympics and in multiple America's Cups.
Route Halifax Saint-Pierre Ocean Race is an ocean race held in late June or early July, every two years, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada for a distance of approximately 350 nautical miles (650 km) to Saint-Pierre, in the French Archipelago of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon off of coastal Newfoundland. It is raced by crews of two or more people, most commonly in sailboats in the 30 to 40 foot range, but boats from 21 feet (6.4 m) to 60 feet (18 m) have been raced in the past.
