The Northeast Ocean Race Symposium

Roy Greenwald, who will serve as the program moderator, is a trustee of the Marion Bermuda Race, an advisor to the Bermuda 1-2 Race, and a past commodore of the Blue Water Sailing Club. He has sailed over 80,000 miles in his Valiant 42, Cordelia, primarily double-handed with his wife, Gail. They have completed two transits of the Atlantic Ocean, one crossing of the Pacific Ocean, multiple passages between New England and the Caribbean, four Marion-Bermuda Races, four Bermuda 1-2 Races, and the Newport Bermuda Race. Cordelia has often finished first in class and in the most recent Marion Bermuda Race finished first in fleet, class, celestial division, the team competition and short-handed. Roy has also published several articles in Blue Water Sailing Magazine related to various cruising and racing topics.

This session is intended to help both captains and crew take on their offshore roles in a way that will assure a fun and safe experience during what can sometimes be a challenging adventure. The first point that will be addressed is factors in crew selection, with a focus on the differences between crewing in coastal round-the-buoy races versus offshore races. Also covered will be the specific roles within the team, proper assignment of those roles, and watch-standing options. Another sub-topic of the session will be crew well-being, and ways to properly assure this, including approaches to provisioning and meals. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, methods for proper crew orientation - the topics and the training needed for your specific race boat - will be presented.

Anne Kolker began her offshore sailing in 2001 with her husband on their 52-foot sloop-rigged Stellar yacht, Etoile. Their original plan was to just retire and sail. But when her husband unfortunately died in 2008, Anne chose to keep Etoile and learn everything she could about the boat’s systems and handling. As an MD anesthesiologist, Anne brought a conscious and methodical approach to learning each of many areas, including boat hardware, rigging, electronics, crew choices, race planning, crew harmony and ocean currents.

Anne’s first planned offshore race was Marion to Bermuda in 2009. She was a member of an all-female crew on a J 42 that did not complete the race. Undeterred, and determined to build up her skills over the next two years, Anne started and completed several races leading up to her completion of the Marion Bermuda Race in 2011 - on her own boat, Etoile, with an all-female crew. Since then, Anne has captained Etoile on 5 Marion Bermuda races, 1 Newport to Bermuda race, and a second Lobster Run while also completing numerous races and passages on other boats, including a transatlantic trip.

Yacht racers to Bermuda or Halifax will find themselves beyond the range of VHF and cellphones within a few hours of the start. Alternate communications are required to handle safety or emergency situations. Offshore communications also enable the reception of weather data and competitor position reports, to enhance navigation strategy decisions along the route. From HF radio (SSB) to low earth orbit satellites (Iridium, Globalstar) and geostationary satellites (Inmarsat, VSAT), we will review the equipment options available, together with their capabilities and limitations. Finally, we will review the current status of the Starlink satellite network and the opportunities and limitations for its use offshore.

Father and son, Rufus and Rogan, have both sailed multiple races to Bermuda and the RORC Transatlantic Race from Newport to Cowes, UK. Rufus has been an inshore and offshore race navigator for many years and has experience racing Marblehead to Halifax and the RORC Caribbean 600. Rogan enjoys racing every summer on the New England classic yacht circuit.

After completing a BSc in electronic engineering in the UK, Rufus sailed to the Caribbean and founded Cay Electronics, before moving to the USA and opening a second location in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Cay Electronics sells, installs, and services, marine navigation, communication and electrical, systems for yachts, powerboats, and commercial vessels.

Rogan studied yacht design at the Landing School in Maine. After commencing his career with Gunboat, he worked for several carbon fiber catamaran builders before joining Cay Electronics, where he currently oversees the equipment installation and commissioning department.

Whether you have an old rig or a new rig, knowing it, inspecting it, and keeping it properly tuned will both improve your performance and your vessel’s safety. This session will delve into the issues and hardware that should require your attention well before you head offshore. We will cover stress points and wear areas from the deck to the masthead. Wire rigging, rod rigging and even synthetics will be discussed, both as they relate to your standing rigging and as part of your emergency repair kit. The importance of proper tuning, both for its performance aspects and to control metal fatigue, will also be covered. And finally, the importance of focusing on approaches to winch maintenance and their spare parts will wrap up our session.

Kevin Montague grew up sailing in Massachusetts Bay and New England, cruising since an adolescent and sailboat racing since a teenager. He began working in his family’s Marine Chandlery as a child and later began training as a rigging apprentice at the Harry Miller Co. in the 1970’s. Very early he was out on the road doing furler installations and rig checks, well before today’s limitations would have considered him too young for such work.

Kevin graduated from the Mass Maritime Academy in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in Marine Transportation. He was first employed by Sealand Container Corp but found the routine repetitious and unchallenging. He transitioned back to doing installations and rigging, eventually as Marine Exchange until 2001, and continuing as the principal at North East Rigging since 2002. He leads projects that include complete refits, partial builds and total overhauls, along with being a go-to source for work with Harken, Lewmar and other vendors’ equipment. Kevin’s experience also includes enough offshore deliveries to warmer climates and racing events that he can no longer keep count, as well as eight Marblehead Halifax Races, several Newport to Bermuda and Marion to Bermuda Races, as well as Annapolis to Newport

This session will let you join our panel of successful skippers from each of our sponsoring races. These veterans will share details of how they get themselves, their boats, and their crews ready for their respective races. This is a great opportunity to hear from those who have “been there” and “done that” out on the racecourse. After a brief presentation from each of them, our moderator will both explore areas they may not have covered and take questions from symposium participants. And even if your question does not get selected, you should have a chance to catch up with each of them, or indeed any of our presenters, at breaks and during the post-presentation gam at the end of the day.

Kristen Wenzel Biography

Kristen Wenzel has completed over 20 transits between Newport and Bermuda over the past 26 years. Included in her accomplishments are 3 singlehanded crossings in the Bermuda 1-2 Race. Since the race also includes a double handed race back to Newport, she has completed those passages as well. In 2009, she won First in Fleet overall in the Bermuda 1-2 race. Additionally, she has participated in the Doublehanded Division of the Newport to Bermuda Race. In the 2006 Centennial Newport to Bermuda Race, as navigator on Aggressive, she secured 1st place in the doublehanded class. A passionate sailor, when not racing to Bermuda, she has competed in races such as the Miami to Havana Race and done extensive cruising in the Bahamas and the Florida Keys aboard her sailing vessel, Southern Yankee, a Morgan 44.

This session will be presented by the Chair and the Race Safety Officer of the Newport Bermuda Race. They will present the detailed background, events, and lessons learned from the tragic person overboard incident that took place on the yacht Morgan of Marietta during the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race.

Mark Lenci and Nancy Cook Biography

Mark Lenci and Nancy Cook are both experienced racers and cruisers. Mark is the chair of the 2024 Newport Bermuda Race and Nancy is the Race Safety Officer for the race. Each owns and skippers their own sailboats. Nancy has over 30 years of racing and cruising experience. Mark commanded a nuclear attack submarine and has raced in both the Marion Bermuda Race and multiple Newport Bermuda Races.

Those interested in the Marion Bermuda Race, simply sailing to Bermuda, or aspects of the Gulf Stream may want to attend this breakout session. The speakers will be presenting information to properly prepare for your pre-race inspection as well as customs, both for entering Bermuda and for returning to the United States. Some helpful details related to the starting and destination ports will be shared as well. Also of interest will be a description of the new performance-based rating system that will be used in the 2023 race for the first time. The session will conclude with a presentation covering both the race route’s wind and Gulf Stream expectations and sources to find regularly updated information.

Those interested in the Marblehead Halifax Race, simply sailing to Nova Scotia, or aspects of the Gulf of Maine may want to attend this breakout session. Race organizers will be presenting information to properly prepare for both customs into Canada and for return to the United States. In addition, details of the race specifics relative to the start and finish harbors, how to properly prepare your boat for offshore and some race logistics of the track to Halifax will be covered. Additionally, Ken McKinley will give a presentation covering information about typical weather conditions along the racecourse in July and some brief basic weather concepts to help explain these conditions; possible variations which could occur in the weather pattern; sources of weather information which can be accessed during the race; and information about tides and currents along the route.

Peter Fein Biography

Peter Fein is an avid offshore racer and software architect who has been sailing his entire life. He started on Long Island Sound on a family member’s Luders 33 and things just progressed from there. A pleasure sailor early on, he got the racing bug in college, joining the sailing team. After graduation he started racing on offshore boats and has never stopped. His race record includes five Marblehead to Halifax races, three Annapolis to Newport and five Newport to Bermuda races. In the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race he navigated the Swan 45 “Gemini II” to a class 17 win. He enjoys the technical aspects including boat preparation, marine systems, electronics, and navigation.

Ken McKinley Biography

Ken McKinley earned a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science from Cornell University and attended graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he participated in research applying doppler radar data to meteorological applications. He worked for a large meteorological consulting firm for ten years providing forecast services to a variety of clients. In 1991 he founded Locus Weather in Camden, Maine. While a large variety of clients are served, a significant portion of the business is focused on the maritime community. McKinley has become well known in recreational yachting circles and has provided weather routing services for many yachts worldwide. He has also supported clients in many yacht races and has provided weather briefings at the skipper’s meetings of the Marion Bermuda Race since 2011, and of the Marblehead Halifax Race since 2015. He has also supported a variety of commercial marine operations for many years.

Many preparatory offshore seminars stress every kind of emergency but continue to pass over this most basic need at sea in the event of a complete failure of your electronics. This topic ceases to be theoretical the moment you have a lightning strike and lose all your electronics. Survival Navigation provides a means to obtain essential information for critical emergency navigational functions. A sample of the topics the session will cover includes (1) jury rigging an altitude measuring device for taking sights if there is no sextant aboard; (2) finding latitude without electronics via several techniques; and (3) deriving astronomical data to calculate the above sights also via two separate approaches. Additionally, a method for checking a potentially suspect compass will be presented, which uses only tables in Eldridge applied to the rising or setting sun.

There will be additional discussion regarding the minimum tools for the offshore yacht. Vendor sources for laminated cards with emergency data will also be provided. Finally, updates on the state of, and vulnerability of, electronics will be discussed as well.

Ron Wisner has sailed over 30,000 offshore sea-miles, including passages in the North Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Pacific and Scandinavian waters in his Columbia 50 and other vessels. He has completed six Marion-Bermuda Races in which he won the celestial Navigator’s Trophy and finished second place overall in 2013. In the 2017 Marion/Bermuda race he won the Bermuda Longtail Trophy for best BYC boat.

He teaches coastal and celestial navigation courses at the Beverly Yacht Club, the New York Yacht Club, Safety at Sea seminars and other institutions and venues and has created a large body of teaching material to bring seamanship and navigational literacy to the sailing community. Mr. Wisner has been a key proponent of the celestial part of the Marion to Bermuda race and is a member of both Beverly and Blue Water Yacht Clubs.

When weather takes a sudden change for the worse, it can present challenging, stressful, and sometimes fearful conditions for vessels and their crews that are not prepared. In this session we will discuss what is heavy weather and how to prepare for it, to stay in control, and to sail safely. Some of the topics we will cover are Risk Assessment and Mitigating Risks; The Importance of Practice and Equipment Shake Down; Crew Resources; Effective Communication; The Power of Observation; Good Watch Keeping Habits; High Winds versus Big Seas; and Creating a Heavy Weather Plan. This session will take a bridge/captain’s approach to heavy weather management. We will not venture into operational specifics of how to reef, install storm sails, or deploy sea anchor and drogues.

Lisa Goodwin is a 3rd generation sailor who lives on Cape Cod, MA. She holds a USCG 100-ton Master / 200-ton Ocean Mate license. Since 2009, she has logged over 65,000 nm. This includes Atlantic, Pacific, and Biscay crossings, over 18 New England - Caribbean deliveries, and sailing in the North Sea, Sea of Cortez, and the Mediterranean. In 2014, she was inducted in the exclusive Cape Horners’ Society for her 2013 qualifying voyage from Auckland, New Zealand to Port Stanley, Falkland Islands.

As an active member of the USCG Auxiliary, she teaches boating safety and is a damage control instructor for Sector Southeast New England. Nationally, she is Branch Chief of Academics for the Coast Guard Auxiliary University Program (AUP) in charge of the Program of Study, and locally works as mentor / instructor for the AUP at Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Not primarily a racer, Lisa has nonetheless participated in the 2010 Velas Sud America, a series of ocean races around the coast of South America; the 2009 Charleston-Boston and 2017 Boston-Nova Scotia Atlantic Challenges; the 2019 Marblehead to Halifax Race; and the 2019 Marion Bermuda Race, as well as multiple local offshore races. Lisa is the current Vice Commodore of the Blue Water Sailing Club and a member of Tall Ship America, Seven Seas Cruising Club, U.S. Sailing, the American Schooner Association, and The National Women’s Sailing Association, for whom she has taught Safety at Sea Courses. In the summer, Lisa and her two cats move aboard her 30ft Cape Dory cutter, POCHADE, to cruise New England.

The presentation will discuss design, preparation, and maintenance of a high-performance offshore-ready steering system. Discussion will include techniques, tools, and spares to enable the yacht to continue racing safely in the event of steering damage.

Matt Dugan grew up racing and cruising on Nantucket Sound with his parents and friends. He was a 2005 graduate of Tabor Academy and captain of the sailing team. After graduation, he attended Roger Williams University where he was the sailing team co-captain and named to the 2008 All-American Honorable Mention team and the 2009 All-American team. Professionally Matt worked in the financial sector for many years before moving down to Newport to work as the Regatta Director for Sail Newport. For the past year Matt has been part of the Edson Marine team as Sales Admin Manager. He lives in Tiverton, RI with his wife and two year old daughter.

The definition of a gam is often cited as “A social meeting of two (or more) whaling ships, generally on a cruising- ground; when, after exchanging hails, they exchange visits by boats’ crews with the two captains remaining, for the time, on board of one ship...” Our gam session will offer a chance for a similar exchange of ideas and experiences. This will be your chance to mingle with our presenters, our exhibitors, your own crew, and other skippers and crews. The gam will be whatever you and others make of it. Some light refreshments will be provided.