Castine Classic Yacht Race to feature ‘crown jewels’ of Monaco

Three days of sailing races kick off July 30, culminating in Eggemoggin Reach Regatta

The distinctive Cheatah Cheetah defends her title in this year’s Castine race. Photo courtesy of the Castine Yacht Club.

July 28, 2026

By John Boit

CASTINE—It’s all hands on deck for the biggest sailing events of the summer on the Blue Hill Peninsula.

The Castine Classic Yacht Race kicks off three days of competition on July 30 with a 19.4 nautical mile race - that’s 22.3 miles for landlubbers – from Castine to Camden that will attract a fleet of “Classic” and “Spirit of Tradition” yachts. It is the first of three days of racing ultimately culminating with the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta on August 1, which is billed as the largest wooden boat regatta in the world.

Spectators will have a chance to see this schooner, once abandoned on the beaches of Dunkirk. Photo courtesy of the Castine Yacht Club.

The Castine race is open to all monohull yachts at least 28 feet long. Boats for the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta need only be longer than 24 feet.

Last year’s Castine Classic winner Cheatah Cheetah, a Luders 24 built in 1941 and sailed by JB Turner, will be defending her title. 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. 

Castine race officials said they are also excited to welcome to this year’s race a Fife-designed gaff cutter built in 1908 named Viola, “one of the crown jewels of the Yacht Club of Monaco,” according to a press release. Viola, together with Tuiga, a 1909 Fife-design that serves as the YCM’s fIagship, 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 ("Our Lady of the Waves”), built in 1947 as a gaff-rigged North Sea fishing schooner. Notre Dame des Flots was abandoned on the beaches of Dunkirk, before being recovered and restored from 1975 to 1983.

“We are delighted to welcome our visiting friends from the Yacht Club of Monaco to Castine,” race officials said in their announcement.

The schedule for the various sailing events is as follows:

Thursday, July 30 

8:30 a.m. – Skippers Meeting at Castine Yacht Club 

12 p.m. – Race start 

Friday, July 31 

Camden Classic Yacht Race to Brooklin (no time given)

Saturday, Aug. 1

9 a.m. – Skipper’s meeting at the pole barn at WoodenBoat

11 a.m. – Race start

4 p.m. - BYOB cocktail party at WoodenBoat Publications

5:30 p.m. – BBQ chicken, ribs, and sausage dinner at WoodenBoat Publications

6 p.m. – Live music begins

8 p.m. – Awards ceremony

For more information on the upcoming races, visit the Castine Classic Yacht Race website or the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta website.