After 100 years of catching wind on Buzzards Bay, the Beverly Yacht Club’s fleet of Herreshoff 12 1/2 sailboats are still revered for their speed.

From July 31 to Aug. 2, the club hosted the 2015 H-Class championships where skippers raced 36 boats, 32 in the senior division and four in the junior division.

This year, the weather proved challenging.

“We had about twenty knots of wind and four- to five-foot swells,” said Deborah Elfers, the club’s H-12 representative. “Pretty dramatic - tough but fun racing. We had to pump our boat out twice on the race course!”

While the H Class Association has conducted the championships starting in 1972, the Beverly Yacht Club have raced the boats every summer since 1915. Before the H Class Association took over the race, the championships were conducted annually by the Beverly Yacht Club from 1928 to 1972. Now, the championships are hosted by a different yacht club on a rotating schedule.

Last weekend’s championships marked the 100th anniversary of H-12 racing at the Beverly Yacht Club.

“That’s why we’re having so much fun with the race this year,” said Elfers.

In addition to the anniversary, Beverly Yacht Club members had another reason to celebrate. The club won the team trophy back from the Buzzards Yacht Club, who had won it for several consecutive years.

This year, members of the Buzzards Yacht Club, the New Bedford Yacht Club, the Quissett Yacht Club and the Shelter Island Yacht Club participated in the race.

On Sunday afternoon, Beverly Yacht Club Commodore Lawrence Hall thanked the participants and handed out trophies at a brief awards ceremony.

“Its been a pleasure to be able to host the regatta,” Hall said.

Taking home first place this year were husband and wife, Rich and Tracy McNeil. The Rochester couple and Beverly Yacht Club members sailed their boat the "Lickity Split" for the win.

Most participants competed in modern H-12s built of fiberglass, but a handful used older wooden boats, some from the 1930s, according to Elfers.

The H-12 is renowned for its design, which remains nearly the same after a century. In 1914, Nathanael Herreshoff built the ship when his colleagues asked him to create a sailing vessel for their sons.

Originally dubbed “The Buzzards Bay Boy’s Boat,” the H-12 is noted for being buoyant and stable. It is one of the most popular classes to be raced at the Beverly Yacht Club.

According to the Herreshoff Marine Museum, “The mere fact that, in 80 years, no significant modification has been made in the design testifies to its perfection.”