It's that time again. The 20th annual Great Chase Race is coming up on Sept. 11th!  Don't miss out on this great sailing event and party. This event is open to all types of sailboats. Go to the Chase Race page and sign up for the race online and don't forget to order your Chase Race shirts and hats too!

Read Armond Peretta's kind comments on his visit to Hull Yacht Club on the yacht Kerry Deare.

Regatta organizers across the country have been faced with adverse economic challenges over the past few years. Increasing and maintaining participation numbers is an on-going struggle for some. Bill Bradford of Hull, Mass. has proven that with creativity and teamwork, race organizers can host a first class regatta on a shoe-string budget.

Each year at US SAILING’s One-Design Symposium, awards for service, leadership, creativity, a club, and a regatta are presented to recognize individuals and organizations in one-design sailing. For 2009, Bill received the Creativity Award, which recognizes outstanding individual creativity and contribution in the year’s most innovative one-design event of national or international significance.

The Rhodes 19 East Coast Championship has experienced declining attendance over the past several years, along with a marked increase in fees to compete in the event. The Hull and Hingham Yacht Clubs collaborated to host the 2009 Rhodes 19 East Coast Championship. Bill knew that it was time for a change in approach to help turn this event around. He had plenty of hosting experience under his belt. As a host, his goals are simple and consistent. Bill set three attainable goals for this championship that would help increase participation… 1) Provide good race management; 2) Make it very affordable; 3) The party should be talked about until next season… Specifically, Bill wanted to increase participation by 50% and cut costs from the previous year’s regatta by 40%.

Bill pointed out, “It is critical that the culture of the fleet and the clubs organizing the event are geared toward supporting the goals. We see many clubs that view events like ours as potential profit makers, through charging for moorings, profit on food, t-shirts, etc. I see many fleets hosting with the expectation that dinners must be catered, and that sailors expect expensive prices.”

Bill mentioned that the two largest expenses at most regattas are food and trophies. They immediately targeted those costs and identified ways to reduce them. One group was designated to look for inexpensive/creative prizes, while another group organized home cooked meals for the participants. The regatta entry fee was set at a rate less than half of the prior year’s events. 

“We exceeded our goals and more importantly, sailors had a great time both on the water and at the parties,” Bill said.

Bill was introduced to the sport by his wife, Ann. Their first boat was a 30’ Pearson Coaster. Bill started racing with his two children, Scott and Kate in PHRF events and became hooked immediately. Scott and Kate both raced for the University of Rhode Island sailing team. Eventually, Bill got involved in one-design sailing, including 110s, J/24s, and most recently the Rhodes 19.

“Sailing is like a chess game on the water, but someone keeps spinning the board,” explained Bill. “I don’t know of any other sport that would have someone with my experience have the opportunity to compete with a US SAILING Sailor of the Year.”

Our resident club historian Bill Bradford has been doing some more digging into the long history of the Hull Yacht Club.  You can read all about it on the updated club history page (under "About HYC)".

If you have been a visitor at the Hull YC or are just browsing our website, please sign the online guest book and let us know about your experience.

View the location of any large vessel in the world using this map! Cargo ships, yachts and more.

There is now a new section on the website for the Senior Racing committee. Just click on the "Racing" link under "Sailing at HYC" to access the information on what's happening with senior racing at Hull YC.

Currently info includes the latest on our entries for the 2009 Rhodes19 Nationals.

The club website has added some new member's online discussion forums dedicated to cruising, jr sailing & general topics.  Use them to share info on these topics with your fellow members. 

The link to the new forums is under the "member" menu.  Note: You must register in order to use these new topics.  Simply use the "register" link at the top of the screen to request a user name & password.

Any member that would like to have their photo taken at the HYC to be added to the member list, please email Kathylinnehan@verizon.net. I will be at the Hull Yacht Club during various functions or by appointment. 

You can access the latest images from the club's webcam using the link below

A new interactive map of area yacht clubs, sailing clubs and marinas is now available on the website. You can view it using the link under the "Misc" menu or from the Links page.

If you are a subscriber to Practical Sailor and you don't want to dig through all your old issues to find an article, here is a tool that may help narrow down the search for whatever subject you are looking for. The index currently covers April 2002 to the present (with some but not many gaps).

The new Hull YC online store is live! Shop for hats, outerwear and other items with the club logo embroidered on it.