ABOUT
Promoting singlehanded and
doublehanded sailing on Long Island Sound
The Long Island Sound Shorthanded Sailing Society is the first organization on the Sound dedicated specifically to this side of the sport — built to grow participation, recognize performance, and provide shorthanded sailors opportunities to gain the experience necessary to tackle bigger challenges.
THE PLAN
The Series
A season-long championship
The LIS Shorthanded Series Trophy is an annual championship scored across the full circuit of Long Island Sound regattas. It identifies the best shorthanded sailor on the Sound through objective, published scoring — and gives the sailors who show up consistently the recognition they've earned.
The Long Game
A ladder to bigger water
Local racing is a starting point, not an endpoint. The Society's longer-term goal is to support safety education, seamanship resources, and pathways for sailors — especially young sailors — who want to take on offshore racing and need help getting there.
The Platform
A shared home for the fleet
Live standings, regatta information, and a calendar of shorthanded racing on Long Island Sound — all in one place. A way for the community to follow the season and find what's next on the water.
FROM THE HELM
Josh Reisberg
Founder
I've been racing shorthanded on Long Island Sound for 13 years. I started in a Pogo 2 Mini — a 21-foot boat I was probably not qualified to race offshore — and I've been chasing this corner of the sport ever since.
What drew me in wasn't just the racing. It was the self-sufficiency of it. The problem-solving at 3 a.m. with no one else to hand the wheel to. The seamanship that shorthanded sailing demands in ways that crewed racing simply doesn't. And the community of sailors who are drawn to exactly that challenge.
That community has been growing on Long Island Sound for years. I've watched it happen from the starting lines — more boats entering shorthanded classes, more sailors taking on the Bermuda 1-2, longer races, bigger water. A genuine fleet developing around a style of sailing that rewards preparation and commitment above everything else.
What's been missing is an organization. One that recognizes and rewards performance, supports participation, and gives a sailor a path from a Saturday day race to something like the Newport-Bermuda. The Society is my attempt to build that.
— Josh Reisberg, Abilyn Sailing, Sea Cliff, New York