The Cruising Club of America (CCA) is an international organization of cruisers whose objects are to promote cruising and racing by amateurs, to encourage the development of suitable types of cruising craft, to stimulate interest in seamanship, navigation and handling small vessels, and to keep on file all information which may be of assistance to members in cruising in any waters.
The CCA was launched in the winter of 1922 at Maskells Harbour on Nova Scotia's Bras d'Or Lake by a handful of experienced offshore cruisers interested in cruising [1] The founders included Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, F.W. (Casey) Baldwin, William Washburn Nutting, Jim Dorsett, and William A. Wise Wood. [2]
As of 2021, the club has more than 1,400 members, including 116 women. Members range from 25 to 99 years of age, averaging 70.7 years. CCA members report owning 1,036 boats, averaging 41.3 feet. This includes 702 sailing yachts, 225 powerboats, and 49 "undesignated" boats." [3]
CCA's members personify the interests, achievement, experience, and love and respect for the sea of the club's founders. Now in its 100th year, the CCA continues to use the collective wisdom and experience of its members to influence the "adventurous use of the sea" through efforts to elevate good seamanship, the design of seaworthy yachts, safe yachting practices, and environmental awareness.
The Cruising Club of America has no clubhouse or shoreside base, and no paid staff. Rather, the Club is structured around national committees that conduct mission-related work and manage the administrative operations of the organization, and around geographical Stations that provide regional focus for the membership.
Primary mission-focused committees include Safety at Sea, Offshore Communications, Technical, Environment, Cruising Guides and Charts, Bermuda Race, and Awards. The Club is managed by a Governing Board of officers and elected members, and operated by standing committees including Finance, Audit, Nominating, and Membership, to name but a few.
The club has eleven stations, each with its own rear commodore and officers, and its own annual activities. The stations are: Bermuda, Bras d'Or, Boston (including Buzzards Bay Post, Gulf of Maine Post, and Narragansett Bay Post), Chesapeake, Essex, Florida, Great Lakes, New York, Pacific Northwest, San Francisco, and Southern California.
Membership is by invitation. According to the CCA constitution, "A person eligible for membership in the club must be a sailor and a person of acceptable character and personality who has demonstrated his or her ability to handle or command and navigate and pilot a small vessel at sea, and who has had sufficient cruising experience." According to the club's candidate qualifications guidelines and policies, "a sailor" is defined as follows: "This word does not exclude a seaman by trade or profession. It has long ceased to mean only a rope-and-canvas seaman; the mariner in power is likewise a sailor. We consider, however, that a candidate who cruises under power should have established his or her qualifications under sail."
With the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the CCA sponsors the biennial Bermuda Race from Newport, Rhode Island to Bermuda. It was responsible for developing the CCA Rule, which, until the advent of the International Offshore Rule, was the handicapping rule used for most handicapped yacht racing in North America.
Cruising is a maritime activity that involves staying aboard a watercraft for extended periods of time when the vessel is traveling on water at a steady speed. Cruising generally refers to leisurely trips on yachts and luxury cruiseships, with durations varying from day-trips to months-long round-the-world voyages.
Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on marinas for docking, and being typically only for exclusive social leisures such as cruising, fishing trip or racing.
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a yacht, as opposed to a boat, such a pleasure vessel is likely to be at least 33 feet (10 m) in length and may have been judged to have good aesthetic qualities.
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 with buoy racing or multiple legs when point-to-point racing.
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).
Jolie Brise is a gaff-rigged pilot cutter built and launched by the Albert Paumelle Yard in Le Havre in 1913 to a design by Alexandre Pâris. After a short career as a pilot boat, owing to steam replacing sail, she became a fishing boat, a racing yacht and a sail training vessel.
A Bermuda rig, Bermudian rig, or Marconi rig is a configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats. This configuration was developed in Bermuda in the 17th century; the term Marconi, a reference to the inventor of the radio, Guglielmo Marconi, became associated with this configuration in the early 20th century, because the wires that stabilize the mast of a Bermuda rig reminded observers of the wires on early radio masts.
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 International Offshore Rule (IOR) was a measurement rule for racing sailboats. The IOR evolved from the Cruising Club of America (CCA) rule for racer/cruisers and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) rule.
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 British 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 of land." Indian Harbor Yacht Club has recorded more entries in the Newport Bermuda Race than any other yacht club in the world.
The Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association (DRYA) was established in 1912 as the Detroit River Yachting Association by the Commodores of the Detroit Boat Club and the Detroit Yacht Club, Commodore Harry Austin and Commodore Harry Kendall, respectively.
Lin Pardey and Larry Pardey (1939-2020) are sailors and writers, known for their small boat sailing. They coined the phrase, "Go Small, Go Simple, but Go Now", and have been called the "Enablers" as their example encouraged many others to set sail despite limited incomes. The Pardeys sailed over 200,000 miles together, circumnavigating the world both east-about and west-about, and have published numerous books on sailing. The boats they sailed during these circumnavigations were engine-free.
A sailing yacht, is a leisure craft that uses sails as its primary means of propulsion. A yacht may be a sail or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, so the term applies here to sailing vessels that have a cabin with amenities that accommodate overnight use. To be termed a "yacht", as opposed to a "boat", such a vessel is likely to be at least 33 feet (10 m) in length and have been judged to have good aesthetic qualities. Sailboats that do not accommodate overnight use or are smaller than 30 feet (9.1 m) are not universally called yachts. Sailing yachts in excess of 130 feet (40 m) are generally considered to be superyachts.
John Pierce Rousmaniere is an American writer and author of 30 historical. technical, and instructional books on sailing, yachting history, New York history, business history, and the histories of clubs, businesses, and other organizations. An authority on seamanship and boating safety, he has conducted tests of equipment and sailing skills and led or participated in fact-finding inquiries into boating accidents. He has been presented with several awards for his writing and his contributions to boating safety and seamanship.
The Marion to Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race is a biennial yacht race held in odd-numbered years, from Marion, Massachusetts to the island of Bermuda, a distance of 645 nautical miles (1,195 km). The most recent race was held starting June 9, 2017.
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.
Roderick Stephens, Jr. was one of America's best known and respected sailors. In 1933 he became Associate Designer, later promoted to President, of Sparkman & Stephens naval architecture and yacht design firm, a company founded in 1929 by his brother Olin Stephens and Drake Sparkman.
Dobson Yacht Club (DYC) is a private yacht club based in Westmount, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Dobson Yacht Club sits on the western shore of the South Arm of Sydney Harbour, directly opposite the Sydney downtown area, part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. It’s location on the chart is shown as Dobson's Point, formerly known as Shingle Point.
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