Castine Classic Yacht Race

About the Race

The Castine Yacht Club will host the 27th annual Castine Classic Yacht Race on July 30, 2026. The 19.4nm race from Castine to Camden will attract a magnificent fleet of Classic and Spirit of Tradition yachts and is the first of three days of racing culminating with the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta on August 1st. The race is open to all monohull yachts of at least 28’ LOA with a valid 2026 CRF rating certificate.

Last year’s class winners – Cheatah Cheetah, a Luders 24 built in 1941 and sailed by JB Turner in the Classic classes, and Jax, a Botin 48’ sloop built in 2023 by Brooklin Boatyard and sailed by Oivind Lorentzen in the Spirit of Tradition class – will be defending their titles. In the 2025 race, Cheatah Cheetah was awarded the Ames Cup, given in memory of the Ames family which hailed from Castine. Their two sons were lost off the Grand Banks in an unsuccessful effort to save their father who was washed overboard in the 1935 Newport to Bergen, Norway race.

We are also excited to welcome to this year’s race Viola, a Fife-designed gaff cutter built in 1908, and one of the crown jewels of the Yacht Club of Monaco. Viola, together with Tuiga, a 1909 Fife-design that serves as the YCM’s flagship, will be headed across the Atlantic to participate in a variety of celebrations along the East Coast to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Viola will be accompanied to Castine by Notre Dame des Flots, built in 1947 as a gaff-rigged North Sea fishing schooner, which will serve as Viola’s mother ship. Notre Dame des Flots was abandoned on the beaches of Dunkirk, before being recovered and lovingly restored from 1975 to 1983. We are delighted to welcome our visiting friends from the Yacht Club of Monaco to Castine.

Wednesday, July 29
1200 hrs – Yachts on Exhibition at the Town Dock, Castine Yacht Club and Eaton’s Boatyard
1600 hrs – Classic Yacht Symposium led by Gary Jobson at Maine Maritime Academy
1800 hrs – Cocktail Reception at Castine Yacht Club

Thursday, July 30
0830 hrs – Skippers Meeting at Castine Yacht Club
1200 hrs – Race start (first class)

Friday, July 31
Camden Classic Yacht Race to Brooklin

Saturday, August 1
Eggemoggin Reach Regatta

Please contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you in Castine this summer.