2025 AGM​ Flensburg, Germany July 4 – 6th

2025 International Meeting and AGM

Dear S&S friends​

We are proud to invite you to Germany's northernmost city of Flensburg to join us for the 2025 Annual Meeting. We will meet up on Friday evening from 5 to 9 pm for welcome drinks and snacks at the Werft Café which is part of the Shipyard Museum (Museumswerft).  For that night our boats will be moored in the city, right at the end of the Fjord.  After the café you can continue to chat on board or in the many bars in the surrounding area. On Saturday we will head out for pleasant sailing along the Danish-German border and to watch the classic yachts of different classes race in the 30th Sterling Cup. For those who prefer to stay ashore, Flensburg offers a host of opportunities: historic buildings, several museums, and beautiful countryside all around. If there is enough interest we can organise a city tour.​

Saturday evening, Oliver Berking, organiser of the Sterling Cup and owner of the Robbe & Berking Wharf, invites us to join him and the racing sailors for their festivities in the Wharf Hall. Our boats will move to the Robbe & Berking Wharf for the night. ​​

Our formal AGM will take place on Sunday at the Yachting Heritage Centre, next to the Wharf. There will be ample opportunity to visit the exhibition too. Afterwards we will have a short farewell gathering.​

For accommodation, we ask you to look after yourselves. All our venues are easily reached from hotels and apartments around the city on foot or by bus.. But be quick as it will be the start of holiday time so places are booking up fast.​

The weekend will be €180 per person. If you would like to join us please email us on agm@sparkmanstephens.org to book your place(s) – by May 1st if possible.

S&S Association Annual Meeting, Enkhuizen, June 14-16th 2024

Another delightful weekend spent in the friendly company of S&S enthusiasts from around the world.

 
 

The S&S Association held its Annual International Meeting over the weekend of June 14-16th in the delightful old harbour town of Enkhuizen in the Netherlands. We last met in Enkhuizen in 2008 where we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Olin Stephen’s birth and we had another great weekend this time, with around 70 members and guests from 10 countries and 18 beautiful boats welcoming visitors aboard.

 
 

The meeting was based around the Royal Netherlands Yacht Club at Enkhuizen Buyshaven, just outside the barrage separating the Dutch inland seas of the Markermeer and the IJsselmeer. The organisers Jan Schiereck, Margriet Kroes, Pauline Arnold and Roland van Loenen drew up a full programme of activities, starting with a wonderful Indonesian supper in the Kombuys building offering veranda views across the marina.

Saturday started with a meeting to review plans for the day. 

 
 

Sadly the weather turned against us and the plans for the Annual Meeting Race had to be abandoned but, not disheartened, we took the opportunity to exercise our curiosity about the wonderful selection of S&S designs on hand – from 7.8 metre Happy to 23.4 metre Tigris.  

Our hosts also offered a range of sightseeing options around the town – a guided tour of the historic Snouck van Loosen Park, a trip to the Zuiderzee Museum, or the Sow to Grow Agricultural Museum, or the Ship in a Bottle Museum, or a self-guided walking tour of this beautiful old town. Many of us headed out to see what we could find.

The evening brought us together for dinner at the Snouck van Loosen Hotel outside the harbour. Our Chairman welcomed us all. Then he, together with last and this years’ meeting hosts, raised the Founders’ Cup in the traditional toast to Olin Stephens. Before tucking into a wonderful meal we were treated to a fabulous short performance of traditional fiddle music from Tigris’ Skipper Maggie Adamson, a native of the Shetland Isles and an internationally acclaimed violinist.  

Dinner followed and after much chat on subjects nautical and other, most of us finally retired at midnight.

Sunday dawned with more promising weather and we convened at the stunning Drommedaris Tower, part of the 16th century fortifications of Enkhuizen, for the formal Annual General Meeting of the Association.

Full minutes will follow but highlights included the award of the S&S Association Global Challenge Trophy to Azzurro, skippered by Jack Kliner of Queensland, Australia.  Azzurro was a previous winner with her past owner Shane Kearns so it was good to congratulate her once more.  Jack couldn’t be with us so his award was received by his fellow countryman George Fisscher of Boambillee. 

Presentations of specially designed Dutch tiles were also made to Harri and Anne Marie Eronen on Salty Dog for the boat travelling the furthest to attend the AGM – corrected for waterline length – and to Marjan Kramer for sailing two long days single handed on Morning Jade to attend the meeting.  

 
 

Positive reports were provided by the membership, racing, yearbook and regional secretaries and the meeting closed with a discussion of the plans for meeting in Flensburg in 2025 and presentations of the Enkhuizen Almanac and wine to the organising committee.

After a visit to the roof top to admire the views and a jolly lunch in the tower, we bade sad farewells to each other with promises to meet again soon.

The AGM minutes of meeting can be found in the members area or via the link below:

https://sparkmanstephens.org/agms-minutes-of-meeting

2024 AGM - Enkhuizen, Netherlands - Final Announcement

2024 International Meeting and AGM

Plans for the 2024 Annual Meeting are now complete. As previously advised we will gather in Enkhuizen, one of the most scenic towns that the Netherlands has to offer, on 14-16 June 2024. Currently about 60 members will be attending but there are still spaces available so please let us know if you’d like to come along (see contact details below).

On Friday we will catch up over an informal Indonesian buffet dinner. On Saturday our race officer will set a course on the IJsselmeer for some serious sailing*, followed by the prize giving and formal dinner (dress code smart(”tenue de ville”) at the Snouck van Loosen Hotel. We will round off the weekend on Sunday with the AGM and lunch at Enkhuizen’s most iconic building: the Drommedaris tower.

For those who plan to bring their own yacht to Enkhuizen – and we are already expecting a good number – berths will be reserved in the Royal Dutch Sailing & Rowing Association’s Buyshaven Yachtharbour. A discounted rate has been negotiated for those staying more than a week. Enkhuizen is easily reached by sea: via Den Helder and entering the IJsselmeer at Den Oever, via Terschelling and Kornwerderzand, or via IJmuiden, through the North Sea Canal, passing Amsterdam and crossing the Markermeer to Enkhuizen. Should you arrive in the Netherlands by plane or ferry, Enkhuizen is easily reached by train (72 minutes from Schiphol airport, one transfer). The train station is a ten-minute walk from the yacht harbour where we will be based, and close to the town centre.

Enkhuizen has plenty of options for staying ashore. You may consider booking at:

Hotel Snouck van Loosen
https://hotelsnouckvanloosen.nl/, info@hotelsnouckvanloosen.nl
tel.+31 - (0)228 - 72 26 72;

Hotel Die Port van Cleve
https://deportvancleve.nl/, info@deportvancleve.nl,
tel. +31 – (0)228 – 312 510;

Hotel De Koepoort
https://www.hoteldekoepoort.com/en/, info@hoteldekoepoort.com
tel. +31 – (0)228 – 314 966.

There are also several apartment hotels nearby but accommodation is going fast so please book soon.

If you wish, we will try to organise a berth on one of the yachts.

To see what Enkhuizen has to offer, take a look at https://www.visitenkhuizen.nl/en/to-see-and-do/

The cost of the event will be €165 per person. Payments are due by May 18th and various options are available which will be advised to you if you let us know you’d like to attend on the email below.

Warmest regards and looking forward to seeing lots of you in June for another enjoyable weekend.

Pauline Arnold, Margriet Kroes, Roland van Loenen and Jan Schiereck

To reserve a place please email as soon as possible to: agm@sparkmanstephens.org

*If you’d like to join a crew for the race please bring sailing gear.

The Sparkman and Stephens Association - Global Challenge Cup

Entries are invited from all Members of the Association for the Association’s 2023 Global Challenge Cup. Won last year by Peter and Alison Morton on Scherzo for an outstanding performance at Cowes Week, the Trophy will be awarded this year to the winner of an overnight race of more than 25 NM*.

To qualify the race should be competed in during 2023 by a Member on a Member’s S&S yacht, on the basis of national or international handicapping rules of widespread application in the locality. The entry should be for a class or overall win on handicap in a race in which at least 4 yachts completed the course and received a position and corrected time. The winning entry will be the one which had the largest percentage margin of corrected time over the yacht placed second in its class or overall.

To enter please complete the nomination form on our website here:

Entries may come from the sailing member or from any other member who wishes to nominate someone for the trophy.

The trophy will be awarded at our Annual International Meeting in Enkhuizen, the Netherlands in June.

* If there are no entries for qualifying overnight races in 2023, the competition will be opened to entries for day races of more than 15NM. A further announcement will follow if the need arises.

 
 



2024 AGM - Enkhuizen, Netherlands

2024 International Meeting and AGM

Plans for the 2024 Annual Meeting are now complete. As previously advised we will gather in Enkhuizen, one of the most scenic towns that the Netherlands has to offer, on 14-16 June 2024. Currently about 60 members will be attending but there are still spaces available so please let us know if you’d like to come along (see contact details below).

On Friday we will catch up over an informal Indonesian buffet dinner. On Saturday our race officer will set a course on the IJsselmeer for some serious sailing*, followed by the prize giving and formal dinner (dress code smart(”tenue de ville”) at the Snouck van Loosen Hotel. We will round off the weekend on Sunday with the AGM and lunch at Enkhuizen’s most iconic building: the Drommedaris tower.

For those who plan to bring their own yacht to Enkhuizen – and we are already expecting a good number – berths will be reserved in the Royal Dutch Sailing & Rowing Association’s Buyshaven Yachtharbour. A discounted rate has been negotiated for those staying more than a week. Enkhuizen is easily reached by sea: via Den Helder and entering the IJsselmeer at Den Oever, via Terschelling and Kornwerderzand, or via IJmuiden, through the North Sea Canal, passing Amsterdam and crossing the Markermeer to Enkhuizen. Should you arrive in the Netherlands by plane or ferry, Enkhuizen is easily reached by train (72 minutes from Schiphol airport, one transfer). The train station is a ten-minute walk from the yacht harbour where we will be based, and close to the town centre.

Enkhuizen has plenty of options for staying ashore. You may consider booking at:

Hotel Snouck van Loosen
https://hotelsnouckvanloosen.nl/, info@hotelsnouckvanloosen.nl
tel.+31 - (0)228 - 72 26 72;

Hotel Die Port van Cleve
https://deportvancleve.nl/, info@deportvancleve.nl,
tel. +31 – (0)228 – 312 510;

Hotel De Koepoort
https://www.hoteldekoepoort.com/en/, info@hoteldekoepoort.com
tel. +31 – (0)228 – 314 966.

There are also several apartment hotels nearby but accommodation is going fast so please book soon.

If you wish, we will try to organise a berth on one of the yachts.

To see what Enkhuizen has to offer, take a look at https://www.visitenkhuizen.nl/en/to-see-and-do/

The cost of the event will be €165 per person. Payments are due by May 18th and various options are available which will be advised to you if you let us know you’d like to attend on the email below.

Warmest regards and looking forward to seeing lots of you in June for another enjoyable weekend.

Pauline Arnold, Margriet Kroes, Roland van Loenen and Jan Schiereck

To reserve a place please email as soon as possible to: agm@sparkmanstephens.org

*If you’d like to join a crew for the race please bring sailing gear.

2023 - Association AGM Denmark

This year’s Annual Meeting of the S&S Association took place at the Royal Danish Yacht Club's Tuborg Havn Marina near Copenhagen, Denmark. Ten stunning S&S boats and fifty-one members and friends from eight countries gathered for a sociable weekend of sailing and camaraderie. You can read the full report here:

2023 - AGM Agenda

2023 Annual General Meeting

10.00h 10th September 2023, Tuborg Havn, Hellerup

Agenda

1.      Welcome

2.      Apologies for absence

3.      Matters and Actions arsing from 2022 AGM Minutes

4.      Reports

a.      Chairman’s report – Gavin Howe

b.      Secretary’s report – Karen Blake

c.      Treasurer’s report – Michael France

d.      Classic and Wooden Hulls secretary’s report – Juha Apajalahti

e.      GRP Hulls Secretary’s report – Bart Draijer

f.       Race Secretary’s report (Trophies) - George Beevor

g.      Webmaster’s report – Dan & Ellie James

h.      Yearbook Editor’s report – Louise France

i.       Regional Secretary’s reports:

                                                    i.     UK

                                                   ii.     N America

                                                 iii.     Finland

                                                 iv.     Netherlands

5.      Election of Officers

6.      Future Annual Meeting Plans

7.      Any other business

Members are encouraged to send any comments, matters arising from last year’s minutes or items of any other business (AOB) for discussion at the AGM to Karen.
secretary@sparkmanstephens.org

Last year’s AGM minutes of the meeting can be found in the members area here:
https://sparkmanstephens.org/agms-minutes-of-meeting

Fastnet Coverage for S&S Classics in IRC Two

With just a few days to go until the 50th anniversary of the Fastnet race, the designs of Sparkman & Stephens remain strong contenders in this historic event.

Excerpt the from Rolex Fastnet Race:

“Rated at the top end of the IRC Two band are some beautiful classics which will bring some latter-day glamour to the fleet. They include Quailo 3, a Nicholson 55 that used to compete in the Admiral’s Cup, the Swan 55 yawl Lulotte, and the US-owned S&S 49 Hiro Maru. 

The beautiful classic Swan 55 yawl Lulotte © Rick Tomlinson

Designed by Sparkman & Stephens and launched in 1971, aluminium-hulled Hiro Maru previously raced as Scaramouche when she secured second in the 1972 SORC and won class in the 1977 Transpac under previous owners. 

Hiroshi Nakajima's 1971 aluminium-hulled S&S 49 Hiro Maru © ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

Current owner Hiroshi Nakajima has logged over 20,000 miles, competing in the Newport-Bermuda eight times and winning class in the 2019 Transatlantic Race. Nakajima believes the boat is tough enough for most offshore conditions: "This boat is built well (by the Palmer Johnson boatyard). It's a period boat from the late 1960s/early 1970s when they were building rugged aluminium boats.”

Read the full article here:

https://www.rolexfastnetrace.com/en/news/1236-irc-two-preview-classics-doubles-and-round-the-world-adventurers

2023 FASTNET - Another strong line up of S&S classics

Photo in banner: © Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi

Excerpt from RORC:

“This year will see strong competition for the Sparkman & Stephens Trophy, appropriate given that the famous design house’s reputation was forged upon the success of Dorade, back-to-back overall winner in both 1931 and 1933. In addition to the famous maxis mentioned, are a plethora of S&S designs, especially from Nautor – the Swan 36, 43, 441, 48, 55 and 65. Winner of the Trophy in 2021, and returning for 2023, is stalwart competitor Harry J. Heijst and his S&S 41 Winsome, along with another Rolex Fastnet Race regular Ben Morris’ Brixham-based Swan 55 Lulotte, the 2019 winner who will be competing in his tenth Fastnet.

In addition, there is the welcome return of Sunstone, the 1965 S&S 39 aboard which Tom and Vicky Jackson hoovered up most available RORC silverware in the late 1980s/early 90s, before being taken on a massive 200,000 mile round the world cruise until 2015. Sunstone’s new custodian is Will Taylor-Jones. Richard Loftus’ Swan 65 ketch Desperado of Cowes has possibly raced more Fastnets than any other yacht and returns. Usually with a crew including several Whitbread Round the World Race legends, Desperado is renowned for its black tie dinners at the Fastnet Rock, but is always raced hard - in 1989 (when the race was scored under three different rating systems) she won overall under CHS.

Making the trip once again across from the USA is the S&S 49 Hiro Maru campaigned by Hiroshi Nakajima. A former Transpac and SORC class winner under her original name Scaramouche, Hiro Maru with her present owner won her class in the 2019 west to east Transatlantic Race before going on to compete in that year’s Rolex Fastnet Race, returning again 2021.

For Finland’s Tapio Lehtinen, the race will be a warm-up before he takes his Swan 55 Galiana round the world in September’s Ocean Globe Race.”

S&S 49 Hiro Maru campaigned by Hiroshi Nakajima © Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi

2023 - AGM

2023 Annual Meeting

Tuborg Havn, Copenhagen:  September 8th – 10th 2023

Following the successful 2022 Annual Meeting in Scotland we are pleased to move to the Baltic region for the next meeting and have decided on Copenhagen. The dates for this end of season meeting are from Friday September 8th to Sunday the 10th at the Tuborg Havn just north of the city and home to the Royal Danish Yacht Club. 

Henrik has booked the restaurant for the night of the 8th for the main dinner and awards and we plan to do the formal AGM business on Sunday the 10th in the morning with sailing on Saturday the 9th.

Copenhagen is close to midway between the UK and Helsinki with easy access from the North Sea and Baltic coasts. The Marina is close to the city center and the airport.  Communications are easy with plenty of attractions on the shore as well as afloat.  There are also lots of accommodation options nearby including many Airbnb’s.

Tigris will sail from Cowes to be there and we look forward to meeting up with many of our fellow members and your boats.

Please note that Sparkman & Stephens Association Merchandise can only be purchased by members.

BESbswy