Top Honors and Final District Awards in the 2025 Classic Yacht Challenge Series announced

Classic Yacht Challenge Series 2025 © Bruce Durkee

The 2025 Classic Yacht Challenge Series (CYCS) came to a close last weekend with early fall sailing in the Indian Harbor Classic Yacht Regatta. The summer-long series featured 14 regattas stretching from Down East Maine to the New York City suburbs with 262 classics competing. Seventeen of these striking classic yachts qualified for the series by sailing in at least five events. Divisions subdivide these boats into categories according to their year of build, design, and hull materials, all earning top overall awards.

"This was a challenging season, but it was marked by tight competition, strong camaraderie, and a thorough commitment to classic yacht racing," said CYOA Chair Timmy Dittrich. "On behalf of the Classic Yacht Owners Association, I want to extend a heartfelt congratulations to our winners, and plenty of gratitude to all the sailors who participated in this summer's season."

The 1938 legendary Sparkman & Stephens Black Watch received the top honors with a perfect score of 500 in the Vintage class, the largest subdivision assigned to boats that are the oldest designs (pre-1950), and still maintained in their original intended materials. Rounding out the podium in Vintage is Peter McClennen's1925 Herreshoff R-Boat Gamecock (490 points) and Ben Sperry's 1936 NY 32, Gentian (433 points).

Paul Koch's B.B. Crowninshield Ponyo also posted perfect scores in the series. Koch's perfect homebuilt daysailer he trailer around New England resulted in its winning the Spirit of Tradition class. In the Classic division, Alexander C Valcic's A. E. Luders Jr 12 Meter' American Eagle took first place, and Øivind Lorentzen's new Brooklin Boat Yard built Jax won the Contemporary class. Narwhal, a Herreshoff owned by Steve Frary, was the only boat to qualify from the Modern Classic fleet thus winning it.

"Qualifying means dedicating the logistics and the time to get around New England," added Dittrich. "We know this is not an easy feat to be stewards of these pieces of history and we appreciate all those regattas, owners, and sailors who travel to celebrate the classics all summer long."

Along with the Overall awards, district awards are also given to those boats who sail at least three events in their home district. Maine and Massachusetts results were previously announced via website and can be found on the results page.

For the Southern New England district, the Vintage division was clinched by McClennen's Gamecock, celebrating 100 years of the R-Boat on Narragansett Bay. Newcomer Stephen Antaya won the Classic division in the 1959 Alden Yawl, Mariner. The Modern Classic by Lively Lady, William Hubbard's 1969 Tina One Tonner.

Winners will be celebrated and awards distributed at the CYOA Annual Meeting on October 24 at the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, R.I. All CYOA Members and CYCS sailors are invited, please RSVP by October 14 on the CYOA Website.

Full final scores and standings can be found on the Results page of the CYOA website.

The final regatta of the season was held at Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich, Conn. Despite trying conditions, the competing sailors made the regatta one to remember. Full results from the IHYC Classic Yacht Regatta can be found on Yacht Scoring.

The CYCS plans to return next summer for another amazing season of classic yacht regattas. If you missed this year's CYCS, now is the time to become a CYOA member and start preparing for next year. We hope to see you out on the water!

CRF Final Overall Standings

Vintage

1. Black Watch - Black Watch Alliance LLC - 500.00 points
2. Gamecock - Peter McClennen - 490.00
3. Gentian - Ben Sperry - 433.33
4. Dorade - Matt Brooks - 418.89
5. Gesture - Alexander Mehran - 409.82
6. Onawa - McMillen Yachts - 405.87
7. Spirit, Lars & Peter Forsberg - 398.10
8. Gleam - Andy Tyska - 354.14
9. Polly - Peter Gallant - 212.95

Contemporary

1. Jax - Øivind Lorentzen - 475.00
2. Outlier - Harvey Jones - 466.67

Modern Classic

1. Narwhal - Steve Frary - 416.67

Classic

1. American Eagle - Alexander C. Valcic - 433.33
2. Katrina - Barbara Kranichfeld - 140.00

Spirit of Tradition

1. Ponyo - Paul Koch - 500.00
2. Cavalino - William Kahane - 400.00
3. Restive - Robert McAlpine - 372.22

RI/CT/NY Division Standings

For those Southern New England-based teams that sailed three races across at least two events in the district races:

Vintage

1. Gamecock - Peter McClennen - 290.00 points
2. Dorade - Matt Brooks - 268.89
3. Black Watch - BW Syndicate - 236.67
4. Spirit - Lars and Peter Forsberg - 226.67
5. Onawa - McMillen Yachts - 233.33
6. Aquila - Angus Davis - 236.00
7. Nor'easter- Sheila Graves - 157.78

Spirit of Tradition

1. Ponyo - Paul Koch - 300.00
2. Cavalino - William Kahane - 200.00

Modern Classic

1. Lively Lady - William Hubbard - 235.00
2. Courageous - Oakcliff Sailing - 157.78