The Comets are coming “home” to the waters of the Eastern Shore for their eighty-third International Regatta, August 21, 22 and 23, 2015 hosted by the Miles River Yacht Club – the Yacht Club on the Eastern Shore.
“We are honored that the Comets are returning to MRYC,” said Dick Kelly of the MRYC’s Sail Committee. The Miles River Yacht Club hosted the Comet Internationals in 1961 and again in 2007. “All of the major social functions of the regatta will be held at our Club. The sailors will also have an opportunity to enjoy the historic waterfront town of St. Michaels and see Comet Hull #1 that is prominently displayed at the nearby Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.”
Andy Wood, the Comet Class Organization’s Vice President of Championship Regattas said, “The Comet class is very excited to come back to Maryland and to the MRYC. We have active fleets in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Bermuda. For the Internationals we get participation from all five states and Bermuda.”
The first Comet was designed by Easton, Maryland yachtsman C. Lowndes Johnson in 1932. Its speed, ease of handling and shoal-draft centerboard design quickly made the little 16-footers popular club racers around the Chesapeake Bay and in other skinny-water regions of the East Coast. The Comets had the added advantage of being a relatively inexpensive alternative to the Star-class keel boats of the era. They are also lighter and easier to trailer. The Comet gives up little in the speed category and can streak off at 10 to 12 knots downwind.
According to a history of the fleet written by Mary Swaine in 1977 the boats were first “known as ‘Crabs,’ then as ‘Star Juniors,’ and finally as ‘Comets.’ They were built by almost everyone who could secure plans. A model of the boat was displayed at the 1933 New York Boat Show. The model was seen by Dr. John Eiman and Dr. Wilbur H. Haines, who together with Herbert L. Stone, editor of Yachting, organized the class and decided upon the name of Comet for the new craft. The Chesapeake Bay has over the years been a constant and active area for Comet racing. Without question it contains excellent waters for sailboat racing and there are many in the area who will claim the best one design boat for these waters still is a Comet."
For more information about the Comet Class Organization and this Regatta contact Andy Wood: (410) 310-9374, [email protected]; or MRYC information: Dick Kelly: (410) 745-3728, [email protected]
