STORM MARINE GROUP ANNOUNCES NOROTON YACHT CLUB AS 'FLEET THREE'

Six new Storm 18 sailboats will be Noroton’s new club fleet in 2026

DARIEN, CT, UNITED STATES, February 11, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Storm Marine Group (SMG) today announced that the Darien, Connecticut-based Noroton Yacht Club (NYC) is the latest club to order a fleet of six of SMG’s Storm 18 sailboat since the company introduced the boat last year. “Fleet One” is Southern Yacht Club of New Orleans, LA, and “Fleet Two” is Essex Yacht Club of Essex, CT, both signed on late last year. There is special personal significance for two of SMG’s three partners in announcing this latest partnership as they are longtime members of NYC.

“Karl (Ziegler, one of SMG’s founding partners) and I got the idea for the Storm 18 from sailing NYC’s fleet of Ideal 18s and making lists of its shortcomings,” says Bill Crane, one of two founding SMG partners and the former Chairman of LaserPerformance Group. “We experienced first-hand that while the Ideals were great fleet boats for a long time, it was time for an upgrade and something that met a diverse set of needs as the sailing community continues to evolve.”

The Storm 18 was built literally with the needs of organizations like NYC in mind because no one else in the industry was addressing it. Institutional boats – or “club boats” – are typically acquired as fleets by organizations such as yacht clubs, schools or public sailing centers for use by their members, students and the public. Most institutional boats are built to accommodate 2-5 sailors per boat. Many of the most historically popular classes for institutional use are either no longer built at all, hard to replace and find parts for, or manufactured overseas at too high an expense for most US-based sailing organizations.

SMG spent most of last year field testing the 18 prototypes, and four of them were loaned to NYC for a good part of last summer. Club member Britt Hall, who was recently named Storm 18 Fleet Captain by the NYC Board of Directors, was one of the first women to sail the Storm 18 and was thrilled from the start for what it could offer both her program (she founded her club’s first women’s program) and newer sailors in general.

“I loved the stability and easy handling,” says Hall, “which will be especially helpful for teaching women from ‘rookies” to seasoned racers, and it’s also clearly a great family boat. I’ve also tested a couple or other boats that could possibly replace the Ideal 18 over the last few years, and none of them were even close to appropriate for our needs. The Storm 18 is clearly being built to provide all the good attributes of the Ideal without its liabilities. We can’t wait to get them on the water this season!”

Crane and Ziegler both see the Storm 18 as an evolution of the Ideal that is modern, ergonomic, durable, and easy to maintain and that will help clubs and sailing centers meet the growing post-COVID demand from people who want to join organizations that provide a fleet of boats rather than starting off by buying their own. The MSRP price of each boat is $53,000. The design and build group included noted builder David Clark from Fulcrum Speedworks, legendary sailor and sailmaker Robbie Doyle, as well as naval architects Bob Ames and CaseyBrown, a team Crane describes as an “marine industry all-star
team” all committed to helping create a next level on water experience.

“There is special satisfaction for Bill and I to establish a fleet at Noroton,” says Ziegler, a world champion sailor, sailing coach and longtime friend and sailing partner of Crane’s. “Club boat sailing is a passion we’ve shared for years, and bringing a replacement to the club where we conceived our basic concept while sailing the Ideals in all conditions is a great way to give back to the club we love and help build a future for sailing.”

Ziegler emphasized that increased demand with the space for a more versatile, affordable and adaptable watercraft in this general size category drove every decision in the design and build process. “We want this boat to appeal to women and persons with disabilities in terms of being able to move easily around the boat,” he says.

The SMG team has made extensive adjustments and changes to the boat’s design based on last year’s feedback from sailors all over the country, including raising the boom six inches, adjusting the size of the mainsail, redesigning spinnaker bags and sail covers, and moved essential controls away from the center console to reduce the “spaghetti factory” of extensive lines and instruments that can be perplexing especially for new sailors.

“I’m thrilled that our members share the vision that Storm 18 will grow sailing at our club for all stakeholders, and I’m thankful that so many of them took the time to give input,” says NYC Commodore Scott Harrision. “This new boat will serve junior and women’s sailing as well at our team and beer can racing programs – it checks all the boxes for our members.”

Clubs like NYC need a community use boat that is durable enough to reduce maintenance costs, easy to store on low to the ground on trailers, easy to rig and unrig, user-friendly and versatile enough to support junior sailing, learn-to-sail programs for women and men and still be a fun boat that can be used for intermediate to advance team and match racing, and fleet racing.

“From a new member and membership marketing perspective, this move will enable our club to promote a brand-new fleet of club-owned boats,” says longtime NYC member Michael Rudnick, “and I think that will help differentiate us from other local clubs by being the first on Western Long Island Sound to buy them.”

Crane anticipates that it won’t be long before fleets four, five, six and more are announced, and SMG’s ambitions are to establish the boat in every sailing market in the country. For more information go to www.stormmarinegroup.com .

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Richard Matthews
MCM
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