Onne van der Wal
Veronica Brown stood on the dock at Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard this past summer, letting her gaze drift up. She then thought back, with more than a little amazement, about how much some things have changed across her decades in the City by the Sea.
“We had a 250-foot boat pull in between two boats in that size range,” says Brown, who is director of experiences at the property. “I was laughing and thinking that 20 years ago, a 90-footer was the biggest boat around. Now it’s double and triple that.”
Like so many popular cruising destinations along the East Coast, Newport, Rhode Island, has had to think and, in some ways, grow a lot bigger in recent years. Megayachts, superyachts and even gigayachts have become more of a rule than an exception in coastal cruising waters. Docks had to get bigger. Technicians had to become more proficient in on-board systems that are increasingly complex. Even the Newport International Boat Show, now in its 55th year, has expanded. This month’s event is scheduled to include hundreds of boats and more educational programming than ever.
All of this growth has certainly affected the character of Newport, just as it has touched every other cruising waypoint along the Eastern Seaboard, Brown says. But the city where she’s been helping to welcome cruising boats for decades has also managed to do something that other waterfront mainstays have not—something that, based on the tone in her voice, leaves her feeling quite proud.
Newport, she says, has kept its personality intact from a time that a lot of people elsewhere now think of as a bygone era. The beating heart of this city, at least as far as many of the locals are concerned, is still far more about winches and halyards and spinnakers than about digital-switching systems and IPS drives.
“Newport has evolved, yet stuck to our guns,” Brown says. “Things change with the times, but Newport is a great place to sail because there’s almost always wind. That’s one of the things that makes it the U.S. sailing capital. An argument can be made for Annapolis, but we think Newport is the place to be in the summer. We get a little more wind than Annapolis at this time of year.”
We get a little more wind than Annapolis may not sound like a line straight out of a tourism brochure, but it translates into a thriving community of sailors who keep Newport’s harbor bustling with activity. San Francisco has its big red bridge. Manhattan has its big gray skyscrapers. Newport has a backdrop filled with all kinds of colorful sails, and all kinds of people coming together to enjoy being out on the water.
“Our main drag in Newport is America’s Cup Avenue, so of course we have all of that history and pedigree here,” Brown says. “It shows every night of the week. There are boats out racing on Narragansett Bay out of Newport. On Wednesday nights, they have over 30 boats racing. It’s sometimes 40 boats. Sail Newport has a brand-new fleet of J/7s that are available for charter. You can go down there if you have sailing experience and charter one of those boats. The New York Yacht Club is incredible with the number of regattas they put on, and a lot of boats that participate in those events stay here at the shipyard. And the Ida Lewis Yacht Club, they have a new women’s fleet of Herreshoff 12½’s that race on Tuesday nights. The Newport Yacht Club runs racing, as well.
“And then of course you have the charter boats,” she continues. “You can go out on a classic schooner like the Madeleine or the Adirondack. There are powerboats like the Rum Runner that do the same thing. You can go out and see the harbor, the bay. And we have the 12-Meters, the old America’s Cup boats that are here. They do cruises, corporate events. You can even charter a few of them and do match racing.”
It’s not uncommon to see some of the world’s best-known sailors meandering the streets of this eminently walkable city. Or to overhear them swapping sea stories at a local bar. Perhaps after attending a big event at the U.S. Sailing Museum & National Sailing Hall of Fame over on Thames Street.
A visit to that museum, of course, is just one among many things that Newport offers on shore—so many things, Brown says, that she sometimes scrolls through tourists’ online posts to keep up with her own local choices. “There are so many boutiques and restaurants — I look at social media and see it through the lens of people visiting Newport, and I forget how many great options there are,” Brown says.
Newport’s guided mansion tours include numerous National Historical Landmarks dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Touro Synagogue, built in 1763, is the oldest synagogue still standing in the United States. St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, opened in 1848, is where John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier held their wedding. The International Tennis Hall of Fame lets visitors play on the meticulously maintained grass courts. The 3.5-mile Cliff Walk along the ocean is free and open to the public with spectacular views. The Blue Garden, created by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., is a work of landscape artistry with tours available.
There are polo matches. The acclaimed jazz and folk festivals. Even a kite festival—you know, because there’s always a little more wind here than in Annapolis. “You can do all these things on land,” Brown says. “Go see the church where JFK and Jackie got married, and then go shopping and eating and sailing.”
Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard is just as much a beloved part of this community as any other location. Every other year, the property hosts the crew party for the Newport Bermuda Race. The annual Newport Charter Yacht Show is held on the shipyard’s docks every summer. And the location also hosts the Newport Yacht Rendezvous, which is an event for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County. “We’ve hosted it for the last 12 years, and over those years, they’ve raised $6 million,” Brown says. “We’re very proud of that.”
It’s all part and parcel of a city that sticks to its guns, and that sticks together, as it changes with the times while holding true to what has always made it so special. As Brown says: “We try our best to give back and be part of what makes the fabric of Newport so well-woven in terms of being a little bit of everything.”
This article was originally published in the September 2026 issue.
