Maine Yacht Center Announces Local Community Initiative with Advertising Partnerships Across Three Regional Ice Arenas

MAINE YACHT CENTER MEDIA CONTACT:

100 Kensington Street       Mark Hogan, Marina Manager

Portland, ME 04103         Phone: 207-842-9000

www.maineyacht.com       Email: dockmaster@maineyacht.com

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Maine Yacht Center Announces Local Community Initiative with Advertising Partnerships Across Three Regional Ice Arenas

PORTLAND, Maine – May 23, 2026 – Maine Yacht Center (MYC), a premier full-service marina and boatyard located on Portland’s waterfront, today announced a brand-new community support initiative through multi-year advertising partnerships with three prominent Greater Portland ice arenas: Family Ice Arena (Falmouth), Casco Bay Arena (Falmouth), and Troubh Ice Arena (Portland).

This strategic investment is designed with a dual purpose: to provide corporate sponsorship funding to these beloved non-profit youth sports facilities and community hubs, while concurrently expanding Maine Yacht Center’s local brand awareness among families, residents, and regional visitors.

As part of the agreements, Maine Yacht Center will feature rink-side signage across all three locations. The arenas collectively host hundreds of thousands of youth hockey players, figure skaters, adult league participants, and public skating spectators annually, offering MYC unparalleled visibility in the local market throughout the year.

“Greater Portland is not just where we conduct business; it is the community where our team lives, works, and raises families,” said Mark Hogan, Marina Manager at Maine Yacht Center. 

“These local arenas serve as foundational institutions for youth development, physical fitness, and community engagement. By securing ad space, we are proud to provide financial backing that directly helps these non-profit organizations maintain their facilities and keep youth sports accessible, while also introducing the Maine Yacht Center brand to a broader local audience.”

Family Ice Arena, Casco Bay Arena, and Troubh Ice Arena rely on community partnerships to fund operational costs, subsidize youth ice hockey and skating programs, and maintain affordable ice time for local non-profit organizations such as Casco Bay Youth Hockey, local high school teams, and regional skating clubs. All advertising revenue at Troubh Ice Arena supports the non-profit PACE Hockey Program. While ad revenues at Casco Bay Arena and Family Ice Arena support the respective non-profits that manage the arenas. 


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ABOUT MAINE YACHT CENTER

Located in Portland, Maine, just minutes from open water, Maine Yacht Center is a premier, full-service marina and boatyard. MYC features over 100 secure slips, and a state-of-the-art boatyard offering expert repair, maintenance, refit services, and secure winter storage. Learn more at: https://www.maineyacht.com/


ABOUT PACE HOCKEY

Portland South Portland and Cape Elizabeth Middle School Hockey is designed to provide  5th – 8th graders who reside in and/or attend a public or private school in Portland or Cape Elizabeth with an opportunity to play competitive hockey. Learn more at: https://www.pmshockey.com/


ABOUT FAMILY ICE CENTER

Family Ice Center (FIC) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization established in 1997 with a mission to serve the southern Maine community through recreational skating. FIC provides a safe, healthy, family-oriented skating experience year-round in our community. We offer a comfortable, well-designed, indoor and outdoor skating center that serves as a gathering place, with ice-related recreation and viewership as the primary activity. We provide specialized skating opportunities for those who would otherwise not be able to participate due to social, physical or financial circumstances. Learn more at: https://familyice.org/


ABOUT CASCO BAY ARENA

The Arena is owned and managed by Casco Bay Arena, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation whose mission is to: 

  • Meet the demand for ice time by the Casco Bay Hockey Association, non-profit youth hockey programs, and girls and boys school hockey programs at an affordable price.

  • Expand youth hockey opportunities for girls and boys in the local area. 

  • Ensure that youth hockey is available and accessible to all by strengthening and supporting non-profit hockey programs.

Learn more at: https://cascobayarena.com/


Gryphon Solo 2 completes solo circumnavigation

Maine Yacht Center would like to congratulate and welcome home Joe Harris onboard Gryphon Solo 2 after completing his solo circumnavigation via the Southern Ocean !!!

Joe completed his solo circumnavigation at 08:27:48 EDT, Thursday May 5, 2016 off of Castle Hill in Newport, RI. Total days at sea excluding 2 stops, 152 days, 23 hours, 10 minutes.

GS2 spent last winter inside at MYC undergoing a significant refit and upgrades in preparation for the solo circumnavigation.

Amhas competes in Miami-Cuba yacht race

Amhas #127, an Akilaria RC3 Class 40 that was completed and commissioned by MYC in 2013 participated in the Miami to Havana, Cuba yacht race in February.

This was the first time the legendary SORC event was held since 1959.

It was a downwind start in light air but by late afternoon the breeze filled in from the East at 20 -25 knots, providing great sailing conditions to Cuba.

Amhas finished second in class and third overall in a fleet of 40 boats.

There was also a coastal race organized by the Havana Yacht Club that sailed along the stunning “Malecon” Havana’s down town waterfront area.

Amhas finished second in the coastal race.

Brian Harris, GM of MYC sailed onboard as navigator and reported that Cuba is a beautiful and fascinating country………like the land that time forgot.

A success recognized - in 6 pages of Cruising World!

Hello everyone,

Just a quick pre-holiday check in to say one reason we are thankful this is year is you and the American Promise renewables project that 11th Hour Racing set the foundation for through a generous grant, Eclectic Energy helped along and Maine Yacht Center made a reality. 

In the end, we traveled over 890 miles during 8 weeks of operations without ever turning the generator on or hooking up to shore power! Previously, we would run the generator for 1-2 hours every morning and another 1-2 hours every night. Throughout this summer, people stopped us on the dock, rowed up in dinghies and emailed or posted on Facebook to tell us they loved what we had done, loved the way AmPro looked and wanted to know how everything worked!

We are thrilled with the results and excited to share them (which was always part of the plan). To that end, we are very happy to pass along the article in this month’s Cruising World that tells our story (all of it). Dave Powlison, the writer, did a great job capturing the experience of being onboard with us and we finally got some great photos of the boat under full sail. They gave us 6 pages, the headline on the cover and heaps of photos.

Out of respect for Cruising World, we are not going to put this on the web until they do or the edition is no longer available in stores - but we are encouraging everyone to grab a copy and have had lots of calls from excited friends of Rozalia Project who’ve seen the article. We couldn’t wait, however, to share it with you, the team who made it happen. We can say that American Promise is the greenest sailing research vessel in the world!

Thank you again. We hope you have a happy, delicious and fun Thanksgiving (in the US) and a good typical Thursday for those of you in the UK!

For a clean ocean,

rzm

Rachael Z. Miller
Co-Founder/Executive Director/Chief Ocean Lover
Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean

A Great End to the 2015 Boating Season!

The fantastic weather we’ve had in September and October has made for a great ending to this year’s boating season. With Fall now in full swing, there is lots of activity at MYC.

In addition to boats returning for winter storage we have several interesting refit projects that are in the final stages of completion and sea trials so the boats can head south before the weather turns too cold.

  • Hound, a 60’ aluminum sloop will be sailing to Antigua for the winter. Her rig was pulled for work, new engine driven refrigeration system was installed along with new 12VDC and 32VDC charging systems and batteries. New satellite communication hardware and a computer system was set up.

  • Caroline B, a 65’ TaShing motor yacht will be heading to Florida for the winter. This vessel had engine, generator, water maker and exhaust work done, was hauled for bottom work and varnish and a new electronics package was installed.

  • Gryphon Solo 2, an Akilaria RC2 Class 40 will be departing in a few weeks for Newport. In November, GS2 will set off on a single-handed non stop voyage around the world to try and beat the current record set by a Class 40 of 130 days. GS2 received a complete refit at MYC including keel removal and inspection, removal and service of the rudders, rig inspection, hardware and systems upgrades, water makers, hydro generators, solar panels,  as well as the usual satellite communication and computer systems required for around the world sailing.

  • Great American 4, an Open 60 will be departing for France in October. GA4 will spend the next 12 months in Europe for final preparation and training leading up to the Vendee Globe, a single-handed, non stop race around the world which starts in November of 2016. GA4 received a complete refit at MYC which included the same type of work and upgrades done to GS2 plus much more !!!! We were out test sailing last weekend in strong conditions for final tests to the boat and systems. See video.

Great American 4 Test Sail

MYC would like to welcome home and congratulate the crew of Alpheratz on their successful circumnavigation !!!!

Alpheratz is a 1985 Swan 51 that was originally purchased by Dr. Gregory Carroll in 2006 and brought to MYC for a significant refit prior to Greg’s successful circumnavigation. Greg left Maine in September of 2007 and returned in April of 2010.

The boat was then hauled and put on the hard at MYC. The new crew acquired Alpheratz in the summer of 2012 and with minimal maintenance launched the boat and sailed her to the Caribbean for the season returning to Maine for the summer of 2013. They departed Maine in October of 2013 and returned to MYC in April of 2015 after completing their successful west bound circumnavigation.

Nearly back to back circumnavigations, +/- 60,000 nm with a trip to the Caribbean and back thrown in…………….. a true testament to the Frers design, Swan build, MYC refit and to the skippers and crew of each of the circumnavigations.

“Like a bad penny, so returns Alpheratz with another 30,000 miles under her keel. Great tribute to you and your staff that we had very few breakdowns or problems.”
— Skipper Tom Toohey 4/22/15

Amhas triumphs in 2015 Pineapple Cup

Amhas, an Akilaria Class 40 RC3, completed and commissioned by Maine Yacht Center and co-skippered by MYC GM Brian Harris finished first in Class and second in fleet in the 2015 Pineapple Cup. The Pineapple Cup is an 811 mile, bi-annual ocean race from Fort Lauderdale to Montego Bay, Jamaica.

In this edition of the race the fleet experienced strong upwind conditions at the start followed by a rough crossing of the Gulf Stream before heading east and then south through the Bahamas towards the eastern tip of Cuba and then on to Jamaica.  Strong upwind and reaching conditions prevailed for the race.

Other than Shockwave, the scratch boat, Amhas led the fleet from start to finish.

The expert commissioning and preparation of Amhas by MYC allowed the crew to push the boat hard in rough conditions, experience no breakages or gear failure and produce a win!!!

MYC completes refit on Class 40 "Dragon"

Maine Yacht Center has completed the refit on Dragon, an Owen Clarke designed Class 40 offshore racing yacht. Dragon was refit during the winter of 2013-14 in preparation for the Route du Rhum, a single-handed trans-Atlantic race from France to Guadeloupe which starts in November. The main focus of the refit was to make the boat more competitive and lighter. Design and engineering services were provided by Owen Clarke design, U.K.


The refit included:

  • New Articulating Bowsprit to improve downwind VMG’s. The fixed bowsprit was removed and a section of the bow was cut away. A new bow section was built to incorporate a bearing for the sprit to rotate on as well as receive the strop for the head stay. The foredeck was cut away and a new section was built with a step to accommodate the inboard arms of the sprit when they travel transversely. A new bow pulpit was fabricated to fit the new bow sprit.
  • Mast – Original carbon mast was replaced with a new carbon mast to reduce weight and lower center of gravity. Mast was built by Axxon Composites in Romania and shipped as deck cargo direct to Portland, Maine.
  • Keel Bulb – As a result of global weight savings achieved during the refit, 140 kg of lead was cut off from the trailing edge of the bulb. A composite cone was built and installed to retain the as designed bulb profile.
  • Water Ballast System – plumbing was modified and a new, custom built, high volume pump was installed to increase tank fill and transfer times.
  • Hatches – Custom, cored panel construction hatches were built to save weight.
  • Deck – new non-skid paint was applied to the deck, cabin and cockpit.
  • Rudders – new self-aligning upper rudder bearings were installed.
  • Bottom – new race finish anti-foul. White on bottom and orange to keel and rudders.
  • 90 Degree Test – Because of the significant weight savings achieved during the refit a new stability test was required to empirically prove that the pull up force at the mast head was still within Class 40 rules.


Dragon will compete in the Atlantic Cup and the Newport-Bermuda race this summer before sailing to France for the Route du Rhum.

For more details, see our PROJECT PAGE here.