COURTESY PHOTO
The Ticonderoga (pictured above), is a 72-foot wooden ketch out of Greenwich, Conn., designed by L. Francis Herreshoff. The boat is owned by Scott Frantz of the Riverside Yacht Club.
MARBLEHEAD — A competitive international fleet of boats will be at the starting line on July 9 to begin the Marblehead to Halifax ocean race. The 363-mile race, which dates back to 1905, is billed as the “granddaddy of ocean races.”Eighty boats have already signed up with a month of registration to go.
“We are excited about the strength of the entries this year,” said Jennie Aspinall, vice commodore of the Boston Yacht Club and co-chair of the race.
Richard Hinterhoeller, of the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron and co-director, says the entries are running 25 percent of 2015 building to an exciting event.
Several large boats with impressive records have signed up. Among them is Prospector, this year’s winner of the 811-mile Miami to Montego Bay, Jamaica Pineapple Cup. The 68-foot yacht, which carries a crew of 20, is based at the Shelter Island Yacht Club in New York.
Another is Ticonderoga, a 72-foot wooden ketch out of Greenwich, Conn., designed by L. Francis Herreshoff. The boat is owned by Scott Frantz of the Riverside Yacht Club. At 80, her beauty is fabled for her sleek and graceful lines and her 86-foot main mast.
Warrior, a 70-foot Volvo out of Southern Yacht Club, has added the Marblehead to Halifax race to her summer itinerary. Her crew has been spending recent weeks team building and is expected to be a contender.
From Nova Scotia, Airborne IV, a Beneteau 50 owned by Halifax businessman Bill Greenwood, is among the larger boats in the Canadian fleet. Greenwood chaired the Race back in 1981 and his son is co-chair this year with Aspinall. He is a former Commodore of the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. Airborne IV was a class winner in 2009 and 2015 and overall PHRF winner in 2011. She is looking to repeat in 2017.
Of the current 80 entries, 36 are first timers, 18 are second timers and there are four entrants who have only missed two races since 1997. Hinterhoeller of RNSYS, says one of those racing has entered every Marblehead to Halifax since 1997.
The Marblehead to Halifax race will cap off a week of Fourth of July celebrations in the picturesque ocean side community.
The Boston Yacht Club will host a round of parties and receptions throughout the event.
The event is a cooperative venture of the RNSYS and the Boston Yacht Club of Marblehead. Title sponsor is the Steele Auto Group of Canada with US supporting Sponsors: Gill, Marblehead Bank, Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty and BNY Mellon Wealth Management.
