Thirty-nine teams have signed up for this year’s Edgartown Race Weekend held from June 15 until June 17.
Registered racers include some new, some returning, some veteran, and some novice. And they’ve registered from across New England, and as far as Texas, and California.
The event kicks off two days of ’Round-the-Sound (RTS) coastal sprints on Thursday and Friday before culminating on Saturday with the marquee ’Round-the-Island (‘RTI) Race, an annual tradition going back 85 years. It is one of the oldest distance races in the country.
“We feel good about the strong count so far and the representation of a wide variety of boats and sailors,” Event Co-Chair Alex Nugent is quoted in a press release.
He added that while racing options include participating in as little as one or two days of racing, the trend has been for teams to take advantage of the full three days. “It’s like a Race Week but without having to take seven days off,” Nugent said. “We’ve added more fun things to the shoreside activities, and as for on the water, sailing can be some of the best all year on the Eastern Seaboard, with conditions normally characterized by a steady sea breeze of 10-14 knots and flat water.”
Last year, event organizers moved the Race Weekend from its traditional time slot in July to June, transitioning it to the “shoulder season” so competitors can more easily secure moorings, rental houses and hotel rooms.
There are some newcomers in this year’s race. This will be the first time for the Aphrodite 101 Crazy Horse. The boat was purchased in 2022 by John Murray from an owner in Martha’s Vineyard where the boat was known as Arrow.
The J/35 Resilience represents newcomers to the sport itself. “It’s only our second season of racing and our second Edgartown Race Weekend,” said Olwen Huxley. “Most of us hail from Woods Hole and Falmouth and are relatively new to racing. We are stoked to be back for another year!”
For the more-seasoned racers on the Sabre 452WK Denali, which sails mostly local around-the-buoys races, participating in Edgartown is an opportunity to whip its racing crew into shape before the rest of the season.
“We race both ’Round-the-Sound and ’Round-the-Island for the camaraderie and time on the water,” said Denali’s skipper Joshua Weiss, from Waban, Mass.
The ‘Round-the-Sound races run between 20 to 25 nautical miles around government marks on Vineyard Sound and Nantucket Sound and are scored separately from the ’RTI with separate prizes given.
The first 50 paid registrants for RTI are provided two nights of free moorings. Entry fees for RTS include a night of moorage for each day that participants register. Current sponsors of Edgartown Race Weekend are Mount Gay Rum, North Sails, and Regatta Craft Mixers.
For more information on Edgartown Race Weekend, including the NOR, go to www.rtirace.org or contact Margaret Passafiume. raceadministrator@edgartownyc.org, (508) 627-4364 x18.
