Newport for Volvo race

[Steve Laume]

I have been following the Volvo race and they are on their way to Newport at this very moment. I would like to take Raven up there to see them do the in port race and see them off. It would also be fun to tour the race village and see the boats up close.

I generally have an anchoring budget and that would definitely be the case in Newport. So I am looking for suggestions for how to best manage this. I know we had a float in at Dutch Island a few years ago. It was about a one mile walk across to Jamestown and a nice ferry ride to Newport. I just wonder what will be running in mid may. Is there some place to anchor in Jamestown or Newport? Is anyone else planning to head to Newport for the festivities? Any suggestions on how to best experience this rare opportunity would be appreciated, Steve.

[Jim Walsh]

Dutch Harbor is the safest place to anchor and the town dingy dock is handy (they have a holding tank pump also) or you can anchor in Mackeral Cove but there's no dedicated dinghy dock. If you walk to the Jamestown ferry your only expense would be the cost of the ferry (which isn't cheap). That's what I'd do.

[Steve Laume]

I did some research and found that it may be possible to anchor right in Newport Harbor. I don't know if you could find room during the summer but I am hoping that maybe there will be space in mid May. The Volvo Race is certainly going to draw some boats but maybe most of them will be on moorings or docks. The problem with staying in Dutch Harbor is that you would have to go out and around Beavertail to see the in port races and then back again. It would be very cool to be right down town for all the festivities. Anyone else up for going? Newport is a fun town anytime but it should be a blast for the Volvo race, Steve.

http://www.waterwayguide.com/latest-new ... -aboards#!

[Klem]

It has been a few years since I stopped there but it used to be that you could anchor towards the south end of the harbor. There was basically a small hole in the moorings. Also, you can anchor at the north end of everything but it is a long dinghy ride and there is a fair amount of traffic noise as you are quite close to the bridge. You might try checking active captain to see what the latest posts say.

[Duncan Maio]

I don't have all the specifics, but I imagine anchoring in the harbor proper will be a challenge, unless you get there before the Race Village opens on May 4th. For most of the festivities, Oldport Marine will be running shuttles every 15 minutes from Perrotti Park (on the north end of the inner harbor) to Ft Adams (where the race village is located). Conanicut Marine will be running a water taxi every 30 minutes from Jamestown, and you can walk/bike/taxi from Dutch Harbor if that is where you are.

The in-port race will be visible from the race village at Ft. Adams. Unlike many other stopovers, the best viewing might well be from the beach. Even the Volvo VIPs are watching from shore.

http://www.volvooceanracenewport.com/ for more details.

For current local knowledge on anchoring/mooring, I would call Oldport Marine. They are involved in the stopover planning and will know what to expect.

[pete faga]

Steve
Hope you made it there for the finish
4 of the boats are grouped together with 20 miles to go!!!

[Steve Laume]

Pete, I wish I could spend a week or more in Newport but these are busy times for a Christmas tree farmer. I plan to sail up there on Thurs or Fri to check out the race village and then watch the in port race and the departure. Look for Raven to be leading the Volvo boats out of the bay. Well maybe if the winds are five knots or less and I can motor at hull speed, Steve.

[pete faga]

Did anybody get to the race village or see the in port race before departure.
Looks like the race officials already want to offer Newport as a stopover next Volvo because of the attendance

[jbenagh]

My kids & I went down the first weekend. We've been following the race pretty intently. I have some pictures that I can post later if any are interesting.

Highlights for us were seeing Sally Barkow of SCA and seeing them doing repairs to the rudder that got damaged that leg. Oh and climbing through the boat mock up. We even climbed into its back compartment to act out some of the action we saw on the videos.

Jeff

[c1josh]

I was sailing Saturday afternoon on a Pearson 27 that a friend just bought. We sailed from Dutch Harbor and got around the Beavertail light just in time to see the last 30 minutes of the race. WOW. With a little bit of win those boats flew to the mouth of Narraganset Bay for the final turn back to Newport, it was really an impressive sight.

Afterwards we motored through Newport Harbor to gawk at the beautiful boats.

-Josh

[Steve Laume]

I just got back from sailing up there. OMG was it ever awesome. I have a whole mess of pictures and some stories to tell. It turns out that taking your boat up there was the absolutly best way to experience the races and to get to the village. I am still unpacking so I will post more later, Steve.

[jbenagh]

Steve,I can't wait to hear...

[pete faga]

Jeff please post pictures when you get a chance
Glad to hear your boat is repaired and in already
Pete

[Carl Thunberg]

My daughter crewed for a friend who made the trip on their sailboat, too. She had an amazing time, while I mowed the lawn. Where did I go wrong? On the return trip to Portland, Maine, the engine died, so they had to take the outside passage around Cape Cod because they couldn't motor through the canal. With any luck they should arrive back in Portland some time today.

[Steve Laume]

Sailed up to Newport on Friday. I got a late start, because I always do and I wanted to install the new auto pilot before I left. It turned really nice tight circles when engaged so it wasn't much use. They tell you to hook up wires A and B for the drive but there is no indication as to weather the blue wire or the brown is A or B. Reversing them once I got there solved the problem.

I cruised in about 1900 and motored over to the race boats. I asked a launch driver about the anchorage and he was very helpful. There is a large anchorage so anchored about 200 yards from the race village and stayed on the boat that night. The next morning it was a 10 Min row to the village. I was able to row right up to the boats and talk to the crews at their level from the dinghy. Even got complements from one of the Brunel guys. There was a nice little dinghy dock right at the village so I went and tied up. I visited the entire village and then rowed back to Raven for lunch. I decided it was better to watch the in port race from shore so rowed back over to my dock and set up on the rocks at the point. The place was an absolute zoo. Tens of thousands of people, boats, planes and helicopters all milling around. The race boats are huge and fast. Also pretty ugly up close but they are not built to look good. The spectator boats and people were beautiful and the air was festive. The race was not the most exciting of the series and more resembled a parade.

After the race I moved Raven over to the downtown end of the anchorage and rowed in to check out the town. It was saturated with Volvo race posters banners and Volvo products. Also more beautiful people and their very expensive cars. Just an amazing show.

The start of the offshore leg began at 1400 and the course had to be clear by 1300 so I took Raven out to the far side in company with all the other beautiful boats. Just an amazing show in itself. There was a J class boat, a Joel White's wild something, vintage house boats and 12 meters flitting around like Starlings. Jockeying Raven near the edge of the course soon seemed ill advised so I hung back a bit, maneuvered and drifted. The winds were good and the boats were magnificent. Once they did the upwind leg and passed back under the bridge I began to motor out to the last gate. This avoided some of the, faster, spectator fleet that was chasing the boats along the side lines. Once I got out there I realized there were no safety boats to keep you back so I moved in closer to the race path. By this time the race boats had already gone back under the bridge and were charging up to me. Them and a hundred or so spectator boats. It was absolutely wild. There were Race boats tacking a hundred yards to my port, spectators all around pushing up huge wakes, official boats lost in the maelstrom and much joy in the air. Horns blaring, helicopters hovering and boats everywhere. Poor little Feather didn't know quite what to do. I do have pictures of this spectacle but had some trouble downloading them. I will work on that.

Once the race boats were well on their way the spectator fleet started running back towards home. I had set my jib to help steady the boat when I saw what was about to happen on the way out. It was now settled enough to get up the rest of the sails and head towards home myself. You could still see the tops of the Volvo sails poking out of the mist, miles off in the distance.

Overall it was a pretty crazy weekend. I couldn't believe how easy it was to access everything by boat. Lots of room to anchor, convenient dinghy docks and lots of friendly people.

I even got an official Alvimedica race shirt from the kid handing out swag at the team work area. I will definitely do this again if Newport wins the bid for the next Volvo race, Steve.