10/01/2026
The 2026 Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta extends a warm welcome back to the legendary 72 foot ketch Ticonderoga of Greenwich. Known affectionately as The Mighty Ti, she is a vessel of unrivaled beauty and timeless style.
Designed by L. Francis Herreshoff, son of the famed “Wizard of Bristol,” Nathanael Herreshoff, she was built in 1936 for prominent American yachtsman and businessman Harry Noyes at the Quincy Adams Boatyard in Massachusetts. Launched originally as Tioga II of Marblehead, she was conceived as a large but relatively simple day sailor.
That simplicity did not last long. During construction, Noyes, who owned the yard, made extensive modifications, frequently clashing with Herreshoff. A generator, bronze radiators, a boiler fired heating system, two showers, a cast iron bathtub, large refrigeration, and substantial fuel and water tanks were added. The disagreements were so significant that Herreshoff either was not invited to, or did not attend, her launch.
Although Noyes had not planned to race her, Tioga II quickly proved herself a formidable ocean racer. She set a course record in the 1940 Miami to Nassau Cup Race and finished first in 24 of her first 37 races.
Sold after World War II without the rights to her original name, her new owner found inspiration in a familiar Ticonderoga pencil, and a legend was reborn. Through a succession of owners, one thing never changed, her success on the racecourse. Ticonderoga won major races and set course records across the Atlantic, Pacific, Caribbean, and Mediterranean well into the 1970s.
Her most famous victory came in the 1965 Transpac, where she set the elapsed time course record in one of the greatest duels in Transpac history, finishing the 2,200 mile race from Los Angeles to Honolulu just over five minutes ahead of Cornelius Bruynzeel’s Stormvogel.
A longtime favorite at the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta, Ticonderoga boasts multiple class wins, and we can’t wait to welcome her back to Nelson’s Dockyard for the 2026 Classics.