Edgartown Race Weekend: Sails up! Thursday through Saturday
by Barby MacGowan 17 Jun 12:16 PDT
June 20-22, 2024
With all hands on deck and sails at the ready, 52 teams are preparing for the Edgartown Yacht Club's Edgartown Race Weekend, which starts Thursday (June 20) with two days of 'Round-the-Sound ('RTS) Races and finishes with Saturday's (June 22) ever-popular Round-the-Island ('RTI) Race.
A total of 14 teams will compete in Thursday and Friday's coastal sprints (of between 11 and 19 nautical miles) around government buoys within Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds. Of those, 12 will move on to join 38 others (for a total of 50 boats) in Saturday's 55 nautical mile circumnavigation of Martha's Vineyard, one of America's oldest distance races that is in its 87th year.
"We are pleased with the robust turnout," said Event Chair Hal Findlay, who recently circumnavigated the world in his Oyster 66 Serendipity and plans to sail it in the 'RTI's PHRF Spinnaker Class, "and happy that many new teams are joining the skillful and dedicated sailors who are returning to the competition."
Sailing both the 'RTS and 'RTI for the first time will be Tom Rich (Portsmouth, R.I.) and his team aboard the GP 42 Settler, which is new to Rich as of last year.
"I used to do this race back in the 1980s," said Rich, explaining that he sailed aboard his father's Peterson 42, also named Settler. "This year, it was a good weekend for us, and we found reasonable housing, so we booked and are excited to get going!" (Earlier this month, Settler won its class at the IYAC Rhody Regatta and finished second in the Off Soundings Club Spring Series regatta.)
Rich's toughest competition in the 'RTI just might be Ira Perry's (South Dartmouth, Mass.) J/29 Seefest. "We've been racing this regatta since 2015 with five class wins, including several Venona wins," said Perry, adding that sailing with his teenage son Cameron "makes sailing around beautiful Martha's Vineyard even sweeter!"
The prestigious Venona Trophy is awarded in the 'RTI to the overall winner of the fully crewed PHRF classes, which typically comprise the bulk of the fleet. (In the event of shortened courses where all classes are not finished at the same gate, only boats that complete the longest course are eligible for this award.) There are also classes for PHRF Non-Spinnaker, PHRF Double Handed Spinnaker, and Multihull with their own special trophies along with awards to the top-three in each class. The Edgartown Race Weekend Award will be given to the boat with the best combined performance in the 'RTS and 'RTI Races.
Spectators will be able to view the 'RTI action from the island's coastal vantage points as the fleet sails clockwise around the island, first between Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket along the east beach of Chappaquiddick, and then in the open Atlantic Ocean around midday with views of the south coast of the Vineyard. In the afternoon, the fleet will round the gorgeous cliffs of Gay Head before sailing up Vineyard Sound to the finish near the mouth of Edgartown Harbor (if not shortened due to weather conditions). Competitors will have passed within sight of seven lighthouses: Cape Poge, Gay Head, Tarpaulin Cove, Nobska, West Chop, East Chop and Edgartown.
"It's always a fun weekend," said Dave Caso (Duxbury, Mass.), who will sail his Cherubini 44 Silhouette in the 'RTI. "Silhouette does not sail to windward as well as most modern sailboats, so we make up time on the downwind legs to be competitive. It's challenging to sail around the island at all points of sail in varying wind conditions with a tidal current."
Teams competing hail from across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Maine, and from as far away as Washington state and Texas. There are three classes for 'RTS: two for PHRF Spinnaker and one for PHRF Non-Spinnaker. There are nine for 'RTI: Spinnaker A, B, C, D, E, and F, Non-Spinnaker, Double Handed Spinnaker, and Multihull.
Sponsors of Edgartown Race Weekend are Mount Gay Rum, Martha's Vineyard Coffee Co, Regatta Premium Craft Mixers, Team One Newport, and J Boats.
For more information, including the NOR, go to www.rtirace.org or contact Margaret Passafiume, , (508) 627-4364 x18.