Media visiting the regatta or registering to board the press boat do so entirely at their own risk. The organizing authority will not accept any liability for material damage or personal injury or death sustained in conjunction with or prior to, during, or after the regatta or while on the press boat.
CHESTER, NS, Canada – The Atlantic Yacht Sales Chester Race Week organizing committee is pleased to offer a complimentary media boat service to accredited media on a daily, first-registered, first-seated basis from Wednesday, August 13 to Saturday, August 16, on beautiful Mahone Bay, in Chester, Nova Scotia, Canada.
To register for the 2025 media boat, fill out the form under the accreditation tab.
The media boat is an excellent opportunity to get close to the boats in every fleet as they race in Canada’s largest keelboat regatta.
What
Chester Race Week Media Boat, bearing Press Boat banners.
Where
Media Boat is berthed on the CYC Tender float at 21 South Street, Chester. Descend the ramp on the right-hand side of the CYC wharf.
When
Departing daily at 11:30 AM, from August 13 – 16, 2025, and returning to the Chester Yacht Club Race Committee float by 3:30 PM or earlier, based on need.
Depending on demand and weather, the boat may take a few trips between its initial departure and final return to Chester Yacht Club.
Note
Please do not confuse “Mahone Bay,” the body of water, with “Mahone Bay,” the community.
All racing is conducted on Mahone Bay off the Village of Chester.
Skipper and guide Tim Harris will take up to four journalists — or five if the bay is calm — per trip. Tim is a longtime Chester resident, avid runner, past Chester Yacht Club Commodore (1998-99), and is the first to jump aboard any sailboat heading offshore to race or requiring crew for transport from or to the Eastern Seaboard.
Course
Description
Inshore
Fastest boats
Race officer: Inshore – Luke Porter (RNSYS)
Distance
Fast boats and cruising (pleasure) boats
Race officer: Tom Clarke (Bermuda) & Dan Conrod (Halifax, NS)
Bluenose
1 fleet
Bluenose class boats in Chester harbour (our largest one-design fleet)
Race officer: Peter Van Muyden (Edmonton, AB)
Classics and other
Pursuit Fleets
Classic wooden and other boats (many 100+ years old)
Race officer: Pat Nelder (Martins River, NS)
One-design
3 fleets
Farr 30
Sonar
International One Design (IOD)
Race officer: John Abel (British Columbia)
Tara Wickwire
Hosted by the Chester Yacht Club in the picturesque South-Shore Nova Scotia village of Chester in mid-August each year, Chester Race Week is Canada’s largest keelboat regatta, with four days of sailing and hosting more than 120 boats from near and far.
Named one of Sailing World magazine’s 14 greatest sailing events in North America, 1,200-plus sailors arrive on Nova Scotia’s scenic Mahone Bay every August to compete in one of 15 fleets racing simultaneously on five different race courses.
Our fleets accommodate everyone from offshore big boats and one-designs to classic wooden boats, club racers and no-spinnaker cruising boats.
Chester’s sailing regattas were first documented in 1856, and since then, tourists and locals alike have enjoyed the area’s natural beauty by land and sea.
A community-based, volunteer-driven event, Chester Race Week boasts a full schedule of public-friendly events with live music, great food, yacht races, and racing seminars from internationally renowned sailors, tacticians, boat builders, and sailmakers.
Chester Race Week has been a Bronze-certified Clean Regatta since 2016.