Herreshoff Marine Museum / America's Cup Hall of Fame

2011-02-03T05:14:00.000-08:00

Snow and ice, ice and snow, and no thaw in sight. Nothing more disheartening than looking at your boat covered in shrinkwrap and knowing it's going to be two months before you can get to work.

Take heart, friends! We have just the thing to warm your spirits! On February 24, we're bringing together a group of marine industry experts, just for you. All those questions you have about how to rewire your panel, that funny noise the engine made at the end of the season, that varnish project you've been putting off for two seasons... the answers will be here.

Ben Hall, co-founder of Hall Spars, will be on hand to talk spars and rigging; Paul Dow, the manager of the mechanical/electrical department at New England Boatworks is ready to make suggestions; Dennis Klodner, founder of DePaul Diesel in Portsmouth will address all those tricky engine questions. Brian Gustafson of New England Tech will share boat painting tips, our friends at IMTRA can offer ideas about lighting, and a North Sails expert will have the latest and greatest recommendations.

Brought to you by Points East, this evening offers an informal setting with those in the know, so you can find out everything you need to plan your spring projects. Cisco Brewers will provide complimentary refreshments!

Admission is $5 for the general public, free for Museum members. We're tremendously excited about this evening; hope you'll be there.

-Sara

Gearing up for 2011

2011-01-14T13:54:00.001-08:00

Happy new year, Museum friends! It's an exciting time here, now that we've dug out from the latest snow storm. When you return to the Museum later this year, you'll find new exhibits, freshly painted walls, and a renewed focus on our mission of education and inspiration. Richard Feeny, our sailing master, is offering seamanship and navigation classes this winter (you can sign up for them here), and is putting together a great group of instructors for this summer's sailing program. We will be offering shorter term programs for those who can't commit to an entire summer, and look forward to expanding KESTREL's role even further.

We're happy to have a new partner in Points East Magazine, who will be presenting our winter lecture series. By February, most sailors are tired of snow, sick of being in their homes, and want to talk about boats! We'll give you just the place to do that. Details are still being finalized for some of the presentations, but author and sailor John Rousmaniere will be offering his illustrated show "The Golden Pastime: Icons of Classic Yachting" here at the Museum on March 24. As always, admission is free for Museum members and only $5 for nonmembers. And did we mention that Points East has brought Nantucket's own Cisco Brewers to the party? Cisco will be pouring and refreshments will be courtesy of Points East. So plan to get out of the house and join us, and stay tuned for information on February and April events as well.

Can't wait to see everyone soon... until then, stay warm and stay in touch.

-Sara

Herreshoff boating program utilizes 1929 sailboat

2010-12-22T08:38:00.000-08:00

Herreshoff boating program utilizes 1929 sailboat

Beautiful pictures and video footage of KESTREL from EastBayRI.com
The video features students from the Herreshoff Institute Seamanship program last summer.
Check it out!

Holiday Open House... great night!

2010-12-10T08:40:00.001-08:00

Thanks so much to everyone who attended our holiday open house last night. Seems like lots of people got some shopping done and plenty of food and drink were consumed - we hope everyone enjoyed themselves! Now we're on our last push through the end of the season - the Museum and store close on the 23rd until next spring. However, we're busily working behind the scenes to plan this winter's lecture series, so we'll stay in touch... we're thinking about movie nights, lining up speakers, and working with some potential partners to make it more fun for everyone. We'll keep you entertained, informed, and thinking about sailing all winter long!

happy holidays, everyone....

-Sara

{HOLIDAY CHEER}

2010-12-03T11:42:00.000-08:00

The lights are up and the tree is lit! It is starting to look very festive here at HMM - just in time for our holiday party next Thursday. This will be my first holiday at the museum and I am quite excited. We all had a fun time chatting and snacking after the Carlton Pinheiro lecture in October and we are due for another gathering. All are welcome to attend the party and I especially hope all of our volunteers can make it. It will be a great time to honor them for all of the work they do.

We will have special discounts in the store for the event. We have lovely prints which are newly framed, featuring the work of A.D. Blake, Scott Kennedy and John Mecray. I am also partial to our new 12 ½ clocks, made locally by Screencraft Tileworks (oh how I love that boat!) and the prism ornaments which are sweet and surprisingly affordable.

Local author Richard Simpson will be stopping by to sign books and the new America’s Cup calendar. Richard has written a number of books about Herreshoff and also about Bristol. Try to stump him on some local trivia. I challenge you! Louie Howland is also setting up shop to feature some beautiful books. Mariette and the Herreshoff Schooners by Jacques Taglang sells for $295. The book is stunning! We have one here in our museum library which I looked through last week. The photographs are absolutely beautiful and there are also plans and drawings. It will be great to have them here at the party for our visitors to ogle.

The Museum has been open this winter on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. We will continue to be open three days a week from 10 – 5 until the end of December. We have had a good number of visitors stop in to shop and tour. The weekend after Thanksgiving was busy with families and I’ve seen a number of locals coming by with out of town visitors. The Hall of Boats can be quite chilly on some days but it doesn’t stop the Herreshoff crowd. If you give folks a chance to board a Fisher’s Island 31, they’ll take it.

Hope to see everyone next Thursday, December 9^th from 5:30 to 8!

-Maggie

Dyer Jones has joined the Museum

2010-11-30T12:08:00.001-08:00

For those of you who haven't read it in the news, we're excited to announce that Dyer Jones has come aboard the Museum as our new CEO. Dyer, a former New York Yacht Club Commodore, has served a variety of roles within the America's Cup community - as regatta director, chief executive for the challengers, and many race committee positions.

We're thrilled to have him here!

Still space available: official VIP Hospitality in Valencia

2010-02-05T01:23:00.000-08:00

There is still space on the official VIP program, including the Foredeck Club and official VIP hospitality boat. Racing starts Monday 8Feb'10 at 10:00 AM Valencia time.

To book:
j.griffin@herreshoff.org

33rd America's Cup on the Internet

2010-02-05T00:51:00.000-08:00

From the newsletter Scuttlebutt:

SCHEDULE: The Match is won by the yacht to first win two races. Racing will be attempted every other day beginning Monday February 8th. If a race is not started on a given day, or is abandoned for whatever reason, racing will continue on the next scheduled race date, (Wednesday the 10th, Friday the 12th, Sunday the 14th, etc.).

EVENT WEBSITE: The website for the 33rd America’s Cup has been launched, which has posted event documents and recent jury decisions. There will be forthcoming details on all the television and Internet options on how to view the event. Our information says the races will be broadcast free of charge on this site.

VIEWING: For the American audience, ESPN360.com will carry the coverage live with Gary Jobson and Randy Smyth commentating. Racing begins Monday, Feb. 8th at 3:45 a.m. ET. All races will also be available for replay.

VIEWING: If you were panicking that your internet provider would not deliver, BMW Oracle Racing announced that they will be hosting on their website the official live feed of the racing from the Host Broadcaster in addition to producing additional online coverage. The first live streaming event on the website is scheduled for Friday at 19:30 CET (13:30 EST, 10:30 PST) when team founder Larry Ellison (USA), CEO Russell Coutts (NZL) and skipper James Spithill (AUS) meet the media at the BMW ORACLE Racing team base in Valencia, Spain.

Security on the water in Valencia

2010-02-04T03:49:00.000-08:00

Published 4 Feb'10 in the Valencia Life email newsletter:

It has now been revealed that over a thousand members of the Guardia Civil, National Police Force and the Navy will look out for the security of the 33rd Americas Cup. In addition a CN235 aircraft will patrol the skies overhead, whilst other sources stated that the very fact that the competition is to take place some forty nautical miles away from the coast means that it is strongly advisable that private craft do not even attempt to put to sea to follow the races. In addition, the conditions are expected to be very severe on the water, and adequate thermal clothing considered essential.

To subscribe to Valencia Life, email to publisher@valencialife.net

No agreement in Singapore. Racing starts February 8th.

2010-01-13T07:38:00.000-08:00

Meeting in Singapore broke up after 2 days - no agreement (no surprise).

BOR: Brad & Hamish were ready to sign, but HQ told them not to.
Download PDF of their statement here.

Alinghi: BOR filed court motion during meeting, showed bad faith.
Read their statement here.

Each side with their own spin, of course.

Dockside gossip: Alinghi still wants to race on 8 Feb, but says BOR wants to delay because wing is not ready. We don't know what the real story is, but we look forward to the racing.

2010-01-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

There are only five (!) weeks until racing starts. Still no agreement between SNG/Alinghi and the "Consorcio" as to what if anything will happen shoreside. We can only imagine how frustrating this is to the Valencian government.

Of course, there is also the small matter of the ongoing dispute between Alinghi and BOR about the compliance of the yachts with the Deed of Gift:

Do Alinghi's sails need to be "constructed" in Switzerland? What about that new, longer bowsprit that was built in Switzerland but fitted in Ras al Khaimah - is that deed compliant?
How about USA's wing - does it match the "sloop rig" announced in GGYC's challenge, made back in July 2007? The Deed of Gift calls for the Challenger to race in "a yacht or vessel propelled by sails only". Is a wing a sail?
And where were the engines built that power the hydraulics on both yachts?

Do they really want to go "into the room" and let the International Jury decide these questions? Of course, they have been completely unwilling to consent mutually to anything for two and a half years - why should we expect them to start now?

Well, no matter what happens, if there is racing, then the Herreshoff Marine Museum will try our best to organize a trip to Valencia so you can see these yachts sail.

If you might be able to join us, email us at events@herreshoff.org ! We will keep you posted.

2009-12-23T12:16:00.000-08:00

Our contacts in Valencia are keeping us posted on the latest news. Although the two teams continue their (sometimes secret) negotiations, our sources bet that they will continue to fail to reach mutual consent and that the Match will go forward with the first race on Monday, February 8th.

GGYC sent a letter to SNG yesterday (Dec 22) claiming that Alinghi's sails are made in Nevada (by North) and therefore do not comply with the "constructed in the country" language of the Deed of Gift.

SNG replied today (Dec 23) with their own letter, stating that the sails are constructed in Switzerland.

Link to the GGYC letter here.
Link to the SNG reply here.

Of course, the pundits are now discussing how the word "constructed" will be interpreted.

And, the real wags have noticed that the Deed of Gift says: "...with a yacht or vessel propelled by sails only and constructed in the country..." Doesn't say anything about wings, does it?

In spite of the wrangling, we still expect to see these spectacular boats racing on February 8 off Valencia. We hope you will join us!

Herreshoff at the 33rd America's Cup

2009-12-23T08:21:00.001-08:00

The Herreshoff Marine Museum / America’s Cup Hall of Fame is working with a highly respected global travel agency to create a first-class hospitality program for our friends and supporters to be a part of the 33rd America’s Cup, currently scheduled from February 8 - 12, 2010 in Valencia, Spain. is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will feature a battle between Alinghi’s sleek catamaran and the stunning winged tri of BMW ORACLE Racing.

We are seeking expressions of interest from our friends so that we may better plan the experience. Details of the package, including dates, will be finalized as soon as possible based upon response. Due to timing, when final details are announced, reservations will require payment in full.

If you would be interested in participating, contact us at events@herreshoff.org as soon as possible.

This exclusive package will include:
- Round trip airfare from NY to Valencia
- Five-star hotel accommodations for seven nights, including breakfast
- Seven dinners, including a Gala Event
- VIP Hospitality Program for three race days, including:
VIP shore lounge
Morning refreshments
Pre-race briefing
VIP spectator boat with expert commentary
Champagne toast on board
On-board gourmet buffet lunch
Wine, beer, soft drinks available throughout the day
Souvenir on-board gift
Post-race debrief with aperitif in VIP shore lounge
- Land transfers to and from airport, between hotel and VIP lounge, and to
all dinners

Price not to exceed $8,975 per person (double occupancy).

Options (prices TBD):
- Business class airfare upgrade from economy
- Single occupancy hotel room
- Suite upgrade from double room
- Extended stay if races are postponed due to weather
- Additional hospitality days, if more than three races are sailed

IMPORTANT NOTES:
- Currently planned race calendar is best of three races, with race days scheduled for February 8, 10, and 12 (if needed).
- Defender and Challenger are currently negotiating regatta details. Race dates and number of races could change.
- Best of five or best of seven races are under discussion, with first race day February 12.
- NOR calls for maximum wind speed of 15 kts for racing, with maximum sea state of 1 metre swells. Races could be delayed or postponed due to weather.