Seventy-five teams raced across 10 classes at the 2026 Safe Harbor Race Weekend, a record fleet for the regatta, organizers said.
Narragansett Bay delivered light to moderate breezes of 8 to 14 knots for the nine classes racing there, while five Superyachts found a sportier 14 to 17 knots on Block Island Sound. Friday’s traditional New England clam bake fed 1,100 sailors and family members.
The regatta’s most dominant performance came from Steve Eddleston’s 12 Metre Weatherly, which won five of six races in PHRF C and finished 14 points clear of its nearest rival — the largest winning margin of the weekend. Weatherly successfully defended the America’s Cup in 1962, and Eddleston said he hadn’t been sure how the historic wooden boat would fare against the modern J boats in its class.
“The competition heated up as the weekend went on, and we had to fight harder for our places, but the crew rose to the occasion and performed some magic I didn’t know they were capable of,” Eddleston said.
The Superyacht class turned on equipment failure. Hap Fauth’s 116-foot Whisper had edged Steve Rowland’s 109-foot Nakupenda on both Friday and Saturday and looked set for the title. On Sunday, with Nakupenda needing a win and two boats between them, a mechanical fitting holding Whisper’s mainsail clew blew out on the reach before the final spinnaker run to the finish off Castle Hill. The failure couldn’t be repaired on the water, forcing Whisper to retire and handing Nakupenda both the race and the overall win.
Wendy Schmidt’s Botin 45 Azulito took ORC A, winning the opening race and the final two of six. David Fass’ ClubSwan 42 Zammermoos claimed ORC B with four bullets in six races.
In PHRF D, Kevin Dakan’s J/110 Memory won Friday’s Around Prudence Island Race, fell behind defending champion Mischief on Saturday, then closed with 1-3 finishes Sunday to take the class.
One-design racing for 18 IC37s and four Swan 28s ran near Quonset Point in the West Passage, where the breeze never topped 12 knots. Steve Liebel’s New Wave won the IC37s with three race victories; Dan Cheresh’s Extreme2 led the Swan 28s from the start and clinched before the final race.
The Coastal Racing division sent 18 boats around government marks over four longer navigation races. Dudley Johnson’s Marten 49 Pugilist won Coastal Racing A. Brian Nelson’s J/112E Honey Badger took Coastal Racing B without winning a single race, finishing second in every one. Chris Bjerregaard and Joe Whelan’s Alerion Express 38 Hope repeated in Coastal Racing C.
Bjerregaard sailed with friends from the Florida State Sailing Team of the 1970s. “I think we averaged out at 70 years old, maybe the oldest crew,” he said.
Event Director Peter Craig said the 75 entries set a record. “But it’s really not about quantity of boats,” he said. “It’s about the quality of the teams, the competition, and the experience.”
The 2027 Safe Harbor Race Weekend is set for Aug. 13-15. Full results are at bit.ly/SafeHarborRW.
