We are an international organization of over 1,200 sailors who have voyaged the oceans for adventure and recreation. Our members have broad sailing experience, exemplified by superior seamanship and demonstrated through significant command. Equally important to the mission of the club are the members’ geniality of spirit and willingness to share knowledge and friendship through cruises, social events, publications, and posts on this website.
The CCA and its members contribute to the sport of sailing and history of yachting in many ways. The club makes awards for exceptional passage making, seamanship and literary works. The club organizes and runs the biennial Newport Bermuda Race, and conducts seminars on safety at sea for hundreds of sailors. The Bonnell Cove Foundation makes grants to not-for-profit organizations for projects in safety at sea and environmental protection.
For questions about the Club, please contact the secretary. Please send any comments or suggestions about the site to our webmaster.
In case you missed it, offshore race organizers made some giant steps in safety training recently. A leader of this cohort is Mark Lenci, a retired U.S. Navy sub captain who skippered his boat for the first time in last year’s Newport Bermuda Race. As a Cruising Club of America member, Mark had also agreed to coordinate the club’s Safety-at-Sea program for the 2020 Bermuda Race.
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Family Afloat: Focus on What’s Important
Every sailing family has a different approach to developing their life together on the water. Here’s how Alec and Erin Brainerd are doing it.
Alec Brainerd grew up in Brooksville, Maine, immersed in the world of sailing. His parents owned a windjammer in the early ‘70s, and he and his brother spent time “messing about with small boats” out of Bucks Harbor Yacht Club in Maine.
As a young adult, Alec captained windjammers and crewed on voyages both transatlantic and transpacific aboard much larger wooden yachts, like the 94-foot William Fife ketch, Sumurun, while...
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CCA Announces Major Awards
The Cruising Club of America (CCA) today announced the 2018 recipients of the international organization’s most prestigious awards, including Bruce Halabisky and Tiffany Loney of Orcas Island, Wash., Stan Honey of Palo Alto, Calif., and Ellen and Seth Leonard of Laupahoehoe, Hawaii. Selected for their outstanding contributions to the sport of sailing and the history of yachting, the CCA will recognize the accomplishments of these members, and others, during the Annual Awards Dinner on March 1, 2019, at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan.
2018 Blue Water Medal - Bruce...
Several CCA members participated in a review and analysis of the sad events that took place in the recent Chicago to Mackinack race. The report has now been published. According to the Chicago Yacht Club:
Fellow CCA Member Mark Roye shares his experiences in Cruising World Magazine. Read all about it!
Bermuda Race SAS streamlined, mandatory for skippers
Thanks to advances in technology, CCA is able to offer a considerably price-reduced hands-on SAS certificate. It's now mandatory for all skippers, so why not sign up now? See their newsletter.
Member Jeanne Socrates Circumnavigation
Perhaps you were raised never to mention a lady's age. Our Jeanne Socrates revels in it. She has embarked, on October 3, to become the oldest female SOLO circumnavigator, and the first woman to solo circumnavigate from North America. Leaving from Vancouver, B.C., this member of our San Francisco Station is now about 400 miles off Bahia San Ramon, Baja California. This is a restart of her earlier effort, which was derailed by a few mishaps including a boatyard tumble (her, not the boat) requiring a delay past a safe weather window for Cape Horn.
Follow her efforts at ...
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Sanctioned Safety at Sea Seminars
Whether you're planning an offshore race or just looking to build or refresh your sailing skills, our US Sailing Sanctioned Safety at Sea Seminars can be an important step. These courses include an online orientation and a full day of hands on and seminar presentations. Climb into a life raft, fire flares, throw lines, and more. Now offered several times per year. These satisfy US Sailing and World Sailing requirements and satisfy offshore race requirements. For a further description and course list, see this link.
Considered by some to be a sort of whacky exercise, this "almost no rules" race to Alaska (no engine power allowed) represents an interesting challengel Haley Lhamon and her "all girl" team rose to the challenge. Read about it here.
Schneiders Recognized for Safety at Sea Courses
Cruising couple Garry and Leslie Schneider have for several years been administering CCA's Safety at Sea seminars. Offered to Newport Bermuda racers and the general sailing public, the classes have benefitted many racers in meeting their race requirements and executing safer passages. This evening (June 14), Garry and Leslie were honored prior to the start of the Newport Bermuda race by CCA Commodore Brad WIllauer for their work.
Garry and Leslie are handing the responsibility for these courses over to Mark Lenci, and they expect to put their teachings into practice as they...
read moreAt the general membership meeting, the following were elected
OFFICERS
GOVERNORS
Terms expiring 2021:'
Terms expiring 2019:
Newport Bermuda Race Preview
Read all about the next edition of this classic race. And the races within the race.
Member Stan Honey honored by National Inventors Hall of Fame
How many of us have had our sports viewing by that line superimposed on the screen? Well, thank Stan. He's being honored for that development by the Hall of Fame:
Stan Honey: Sports Broadcast Graphic Enhancements
A pioneer in the field of sports television graphics, Stan Honey has transformed the viewing experience of millions of sports fans. Honey and his team created the Virtual Yellow 1st & Ten® line— which has been hailed as one of the most important developments in the history of sports broadcast technology. Work conducted by Honey and his team led...
2017 Award Recipients
Webb Chiles (Hilton Head, S.C./Evanston, Ill), Rich Wilson (Boston, Mass.) and Jessica Watson (Buderim, Queensland, Australia) are among our 2017 award recipients selected for outstanding contributions to the sport of sailing and the history of yachting. The awards will be presented at our annual Awards Dinner in New York on March 2, 2018.
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RESOLVING TO MAKE 2018 SAFER
Teamwork and Preparedness Emphasized in
Cruising Club of America’s Safety for Cruising Couples Seminars
NEWPORT, R.I. (January 4, 2018) – With the season for making resolutions in full force, we know it would be hard to find a sailor who hasn’t included “spend more time on the water” on their 2018 to-do list. Among the 1300-strong membership of the all-volunteer Cruising Club of America (CCA), the number one resolution is to help those like-minded boaters make 2018 their safest year on the water. As an...
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