BoothbayRegatta

05/21/2026

PLEIONE — The 8-Metre built to defy convention

This July 18-19, the 52nd Annual BHYC Regatta & Shipyard Cup Classics Challenge welcomes a yacht four-and-a-half years in the making.

Designed by Jim Taylor of Marblehead and originally commissioned and hand-built by Bruce Dyson, PLEIONE fuses two eras. Above the waterline: the long-ended grace of a 1930s 8-Metre. Below: modern meter-boat science, tuned for the 8-12 knot breezes that define a New England summer.

Her cold-molded hull stacks Spanish cedar over Honduras mahogany, engineered to Lloyd's Scantlings. Her design DNA traces back to Olin Stephens' 1967 Intrepid — and Olin himself dropped by the Marblehead shop during her build.
Most 8-Metres are stripped-out racing shells. PLEIONE is rarer: a signature yacht with a five-berth interior, galley, enclosed head, and a proper self-draining cockpit — built to race hard and cruise beautifully.

She's earned podium finishes at the 8-Metre Worlds in Toronto, at the PHRF NE Championships in Marblehead, and several Spirit of Tradition classic races up and down the New England coast.

Her new owners, Ken & Ginny Colburn, BHYC club members, are excited to continue their active racing with Pleione.

Come see her on the line.
🗓 July 18-19, 2026 | Boothbay Harbor, ME ⛵ boothbayregatta.com

Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors Classic Yacht Owner's Association Classic Boat Hodgdon Yacht ServicesHodgdon Marina Portland Volvo Cars Gulf of Maine Ocean Racing Association Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences Photo credit to https://tayloryachtdesigns.com/designs/8m-pleione/ .

04/30/2026

Summer is fast approaching! Not sure what you'll be racing this summer? Here's a nice Boothbay Harbor One Design!

BHOD 50 For Sale Yarmouth, Maine

04/23/2026

Welcome J92s "Inflection Point" from Portland! Owner
Patrick Mailloux says that one thing he likes "most about the regatta is the celebration of youth in sailing. I believe strongly about the importance of teaching the next generation and am proud we won the Hank Spencer award in the past. I wish other GMORA regattas followed your lead on these efforts."

Hodgdon Yacht Services Maine Boats, Homes & HarborsGulf of Maine Ocean Racing Association WoodenBoat Portland Volvo Cars

04/19/2026

New to Boothbay this summer - now that our snow has turned to rain, two members of your regatta committee are getting this little classic ready for the startlng line! Who can guess what’s under the cover?

04/08/2026

A warm welcome back to RESTIVE for the Boothbay Harbor YC Regatta and Shipyard Cup Classics Challenge.

This beautiful Alden custom yacht is the kind of boat that turns heads at the dock and on the racecourse — elegant, capable, and built for serious sailing. With an impressive offshore history and a crew that knows how to campaign her well, RESTIVE brings both beauty and grit to the fleet.

We’re thrilled to have this outstanding boat and crew back in Boothbay and can’t wait to see them on the water.

Hodgdon Yacht ServicesBoothbay Harbor Yacht ClubMaine Boats, Homes & HarborsClassic Yacht Owner's AssociationClassic BoatWoodenBoat

04/03/2026

We are pleased to share some exciting news about the 2026 BHYC Regatta.

This year, a portion of our sponsor pledges will be donated to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, an independent, nonprofit research institute located on the Damariscotta River in East Boothbay, Maine. Their scientists use innovative approaches to study the foundation of global ocean health and unlock its potential to improve the future for all life on our planet.

Locally, Bigelow Laboratory researchers are working to better understand diseases that affect key species including shellfish and lobster, record the health of the Gulf of Maine using innovative tools such as satellite oceanography, track the impacts of environmental change, and grow Maine’s blue biotechnology sector.

As sailors, we all share a deep connection to the ocean, and we are proud that our regatta can help support scientific research that protects the waters we enjoy.

Learn more and register today: https://www.boothbayregatta.com/

Join us for the BHYC Regatta & Shipyard Cup Classics Challenge on July 18–19, 2026 for a great weekend of racing, food, and camaraderie—with added purpose behind the event.

Thank you to our sponsors for helping make it all possible.

03/31/2026

The Story of Ponyo — Part 4

Some boats are built with wood. Some are built with knowledge passed from hand to hand.

For Ponyo, www.thewoodenboatschool.com was part of the story from the very beginning.

When owner Paul Koch set out to build a classic wooden boat of his own, he started by learning from the people and programs at WoodenBoat School. As Paul put it: “I took a week-long course at the WoodenBoat School, then another, then many more until I felt I was capable of taking on a multiyear project.”

Those courses helped turn inspiration into confidence — and confidence into a boat that now races each summer in Boothbay Harbor.

We’re especially grateful this year to welcome https://www.woodenboatstore.com/ as a sponsor of the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club Regatta and Shipyard Cup Classics Challenge. Their commitment to craftsmanship, seamanship, and the future of wooden boating is exactly the spirit we love to celebrate.

Ponyo is more than a beautiful boat on the racecourse. She is also a reminder that great boats begin with people willing to learn, build, and keep traditions alive.

WoodenBoat Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors Hodgdon Yacht Services Gulf of Maine Ocean Racing Association Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of CommerceClassic Yacht Owner's Association Portland Volvo Cars

03/26/2026

PART 3 of 3: “Everyone makes us feel at home”
Each summer Ponyo makes a journey that has become part of her story. From Rhode Island, Paul and his crew tow the boat 250 miles north to Boothbay Harbor. Once at Bristol Marine, the boat is launched, rigged, and ready for the starting line in just a couple hours.
But what keeps Ponyo returning each year isn’t just the racing. It’s the people. The Boothbay Regatta has become one of the highlights of the classic yacht season — where great sailing, welcoming boatyards, and a vibrant waterfront community come together.
“We feel completely at home here,” Paul says.
And every year, Ponyo comes back.
Where will you be on July 18th!

03/22/2026

PART 2 of 3: Great Sailing, Great People!
After six years of building, Ponyo was finally ready for what she was designed to do. Sail. The Camden Class Knockabout is known for elegance and balance under sail, and Ponyo quickly became a regular on the classic yacht racing circuit. Her first regatta was the Camden Classics Cup, and since then she has raced throughout New England in the Spirit of Tradition fleet. As owner Paul Koch describes it: “It’s a bunch of friends sailing around. The competition is there — but it’s really about enjoying a weekend together on the water.”

Next: the journey that brings Ponyo to Boothbay Harbor every summer. What’s your favorite classic yacht design?

03/18/2026

3-Part Series, S/V PONYO. “If I was going to build a boat it would be wood, and it should be a classic.”

Every beautiful boat begins somewhere. For Ponyo, it began in a basement workshop in Rhode Island. After a lifetime of sailing and racing, Paul Koch decided retirement would bring a new challenge — building his own wooden boat. Inspired by classic racing yachts of the early 1900s, he chose the design of a Camden Class Knockabout, first drawn by B.B. Crowninshield in 1915. “I took a week-long course at the WoodenBoat School, then another, then many more until I felt I was capable of taking on a multiyear project.” Over the next six years, Ponyo slowly took shape — plank by plank — largely built by Paul himself.

In 2021, the boat was launched with neighborhood fanfare.

Next in the series: Ponyo meets the wind.

Have you ever watched a wooden boat being built?