Thomaston, Maine June 12, 2025—The 2025 Annapolis-Newport Race, the 40th running of one of America’s most storied offshore races, saw the LM46 Arcadia take class honors in ORC Open 2. Eliot Merrill lead his crew of 7 Corinthian sailors to victory in his Annapolis to Newport debut, completing the 475-nautical-mile course in 3 days and 12 hours. This year’s fleet faced a variety of challenging conditions, from light-air drifting battles near the Bay Bridge to the rolling swell and Gulf Stream eddies off the Delmarva Peninsula and broader Atlantic.
Merrill, a veteran of the Newport-Bermuda and Marion-Bermuda races, credited Arcadia and his team with overcoming every challenge thrown at them. “We rounded the Chesapeake Tower last in our class and had a lot of work to do,” Eliot said. “Fortunately, we were mostly reaching in the ocean and Arcadia is a great boat for those conditions. We were able to steadily grind back the competition out in the ocean.”
Since its founding in 1947, the Annapolis-Newport Race has become a tactical proving ground. Early editions saw crews navigating with little more than paper charts and celestial navigation. Today’s racers bring cutting-edge weather routing and satellite comms to bear, but this race still favors seamanship over software. Whether it’s hugging the western shore of the Bay to dodge foul current or taking a flyer into the ocean in search of better breeze, the race rewards bold, well-timed moves.
On Arcadia, Haven Ladd served as navigator and took the yacht almost 30 miles east of the rhumb line – a bold strategy that Merrill said proved successful. “We sailed pretty far east because we believed there would be better wind out there and that was certainly the case. We did a lot of gybing to stay in better breeze and that hard work paid off. I would call it educated luck. We were looking for wind and wound up looking in the right places,” he said.
“We also were really active about making sail changes. We were very focused on having the right sails up for the conditions. We did an awful lot of sail changes — probably about 30 in the ocean alone.”
The semi-custom LM46 is a cold-molded high-performance sailing yacht offering the comfort and feel of a wooden boat with the low maintenance of a composite yacht. Arcadia was hull No. 2 launched in 2022 and has exceeded expectations. Speeds of 10 knots or more are achieved thanks to a powerful cruising rig with 1,183 square feet of sail, including a square top main, and a 7-foot, 7-inch keel. The LM46 represents a collaboration between Lyman-Morse founder Cabot Lyman, his son and company president Drew Lyman, and top Kiwi designer Kevin Dibley.
Specifications:
LOD: 45’8″
LWL: 43’3″
DRAFT: 6’0″ (shoal); 7’7″ (standard); 10′ (performance)
DISPL.: 24,750 lbs (6′ draft); 24,250 lbs (7’7″ draft)
BEAM: 13’5″
CONSTRUCTION Wood Composite
HULL MATERIAL Douglas Fir/Western Red Cedar
OPTIONAL POWER: 80-hp Yanmar 4JH80 or 110-hp 4JH110
DESIGNER: Kevin Dibley