Photo: Scott Trauth

One of last year’s most successful participants in the Classic Yacht Challenge Series was Peter McClennen’s Gamecock. Competing in 10 of 14 regattas, the Gamecock team finished second overall in the Vintage Division and won it in the Southern New England District. However, the yacht’s racing prowess was just one of the reasons that 2025 was a special season. Last year also marked Gamecock’s 100th anniversary.

The boat is a hometown hero in Narragansett Bay, having been commissioned by George Nichols and Junius Morgan both commodores of New York Yacht Club and built by Herreshoff in Bristol, RI. She is an R-Class yacht and was designed specifically to handle heavy conditions. 

“Sailing her in the local waters of Rhode Island was especially exciting last year,” said owner McClennen. “Her story is a journey through progression and change over the past 100 years.”

McClennen bought Gamecock in 2015, but before that, the yacht went through a series of ownership changes and updates. During her early racing career in the 1920s and 1930s she remained pure to the Universal R Class rule but following, modifications were made to add an engine and expanded cabin, making her more accessible. She was later put on the hard and eventually found in a barn in North Carolina in the 2000s and restored by David Peterson.

“R-boats are pure race boats,” added McClennen, and her next restoration got her back to those roots. She was restored to her original form based on the Herreshoff plans from 1925. Gamecock was then brought up to Maine to cruise and lightly race.

When she came under McClennen’s possession, he recommitted to that racing focus. “We wanted to race her to her full capability. There were a lot of investments made to smooth her bottom, update the rigging and expand her sail inventory but all keeping within her 1920’s heritage.” McClennen now keeps the yacht true to how she was built over 100 years ago.

With all that investment and historic preservation, the most special thing the Gamecock crew thought they could do to mark her centennial was to race her as much as possible. “It was hugely gratifying and fun—as we sailed the boat more, the better we got. We also brought in a lot of new crew, with 25 total members throughout the season, most of them on the younger side and Corinthian sailors.”

While they had a great time at all of the CYCS events they sailed in last year, the Herreshoff Classic Yacht Regatta is particularly special to McClennen and his crew. “Bristol is her original home and the Herreshoff Marine Museum holds so much of her history. It embraces the fact that we are sailing a piece of history”

The commitment of CYOA and its members to the spirit of classic yachting, as well as the camaraderie that the organization fosters, is what drew McClennan and Gamecock to become members. “People are here to respect the boats and the history and heritage of the boats.” That same commitment of his crew is one factor that he attributes to what made 2025 such a successful year for Gamecock.

“I want to shout out a Thank You the other CYOA owners, because it is so worth it to keep these boats going.” McClennen also recognizes that keeping a boat like Gamecock around for 100 years would not be possible without the boat yards, boatwrights, and rigging specialists who put their hard work into classic yachts.

The schedule of 2026 CYCS regattas is now up on the CYOA website! It’s not too early to start planning your summer and look forward to getting out on the water with beautiful classic yachts like Gamecock!