One of the great aspects of the Newport boating scene is the sense of community that all boat owners and industry professionals share with each other. Since 1983, Mac Designs has been a local staple here in Newport, so it seems that everywhere I look, I see a project that we have been involved with at one time or another.
This year however, has been drastically wild and different as the world struggles with the Coronavirus pandemic. Since yachting, especially on the professional level, is such an international affair, this summer has felt like an echo of the usual festival ambiance we have here. I mark each summer with a few key events, and this year they were few and far between. Usually, when I'm out on the water I can look around and sail past our clients on the starting line, but we largely didn't have that this year - until now.
This past weekend, I was lucky enough to be participating in the NYYC Annual Regatta, where nearly 100 boats were racing inside and outside Narragansett Bay. In addition to the NYYC event, the Classic Cup, a race for classic powerboats - organized by our very own proprietor, held their races on the west side of East Passage.
Narragansett Bay was finally alive again. Classic sailing yachts with white sails, suped-up carbon yachts with pro crews, and a whirr of a dozen power yachts all took to the water to finally enjoy the precious resources we have here.
I was once again able to look around and not only see many of our clients enjoying their yachts, but also see the familiar faces of the industry professionals and project managers that we work with basking in the fruits of their long and hard labor from this year.
Wild Horses, the W-76 yacht owned by Donald Tofias and completed numerous SeaDek and graphic projects for, won their PHRF:NS division with authority.
After a year of planning and finger crossing, Bill MacGowan finally enjoys the efforts put into organizing the Classic Cup on his Huckins 40 Alia. Stern graphic and cockpit SeaDek both made in-house.
After a long winter optimizing and designing the cockpit layout on his J/133, Bob Manchester wins his division aboard Vamoose.
Joe Brito puts in a good fight to get 4th in the PHRF division.
The TP52's Fox and Vesper, both clients, battled it out and tied for first, with Fox winning the tiebreaker. We completed the SeaDek on Fox when she was out in Michigan, and we completed the SeaDek on Vesper while she was undergoing a refit here in Newport.
In addition to the SeaDek we also completed the principal design for Vesper as well as all the masking and color coordination for the new hull graphic.
Just-A-Friend blasts by downwind on Sunday. We originally completed the SeaDek a few years back but gave them a refreshed kit at the end of last summer.
And finally, the NYYC IC37 fleet held their second National Championship. NYYC trusted us with their 20 boat fleet and after a long winter, spring, and summer designing and installing the SeaDek, the fleet finally gets to shine with the sharp look and performance that SeaDek has to offer.
While this weekend was a wonderful celebration of boating in Newport, the work never stops and we are back at it ready and willing to serve all our clients and customers. We're happy to have been serving the Newport community for as long as we have, and we are looking forward to serving you all in the future, no matter how wild and unpredictable it might be!
Until next time, thank you.