Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race returns for 2023
by Vicki Staveacre 3 Dec 2022 09:21 PST
July 9, 2023
Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race © Vicki Staveacre
More than twenty boats are already signed up for the 2023 Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race, taking advantage of the early bird pricing which runs through December 31, 2022.
One of the world's oldest ocean races, the 39th biennial race returns after a four-year Covid hiatus and will leave Marblehead Harbor on July 9, 2023. First started in 1905, the 363 nautical mile race is sponsored by the Boston Yacht Club and the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron.
The last race was run in July 2019 and was won by the father and son team of Steve and Stephen Murray in the modified Volvo 70 Warrior from the Southern Yacht Club with an actual time of 40 hours and 24 minutes. A total of 66 yachts started the race and 49 finished.
A newcomer to this year's race is the J/133 Jump, skippered by Chris Lund of Rye, New Hampshire. A keen sailor, Lund's first overnight race was the Monhegan Island Race on his uncle's J/44 in 2003 and his first big offshore race was the 2010 Newport to Bermuda.
Lund previously had a J/105 but was keen to go further offshore and in 2016 acquired the UK registered J/133 Jump, had it transported from the UK to Baltimore and then sailed nearly 500 miles to Portsmouth, NH where it is home ported.
Since then, the boat has won line honors in the 2017 Monhegan Island race, won A division in the 2019 Figawi as well as pursuit regattas and summer race series. Lund says his crew for the 2023 Halifax is almost exclusively UNH and UVM university sailing alumni, as he served as assistant coach for UNH.
BYC Honorary Member Rich Wilson, veteran of two Vendee Globe solo nonstop around the world races said "I was delighted to hear that the Marblehead to Halifax race is back. It is one of the few true blue water races run in this country, which provide invaluable experience for ambitious young racers who want to participate in some global races."
Wilson now runs the Collegiate Offshore Sailing Circuit (COSC) which provides community and college sailing programs with Beneteau Figaro 2 boats to gain true offshore sailing experience. "We have already raised $1 million to acquire 13 Figaro 2 boats", Wilson said "and I am hoping we can persuade one or two to enter the race".
Further information about the Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race can be found on the website: www.marbleheadtohalifax.com.