Over the 92 years that boats have approached the line in the Edgartown Yacht Club annual regatta, it’s hard to imagine a more competitive fleet than the sailors who filled Edgartown Harbor and Nantucket Sound with sails during the three-day event that ended Saturday.
The skippers faced the entire range of wind and sea conditions, which proved a good test of boat handling skills.
“Very blustery out of the north on Thursday, which meant challenging conditions for everyone,” said Bill Roman, manager of the host club. “Fast forward 24 hours, and it was really, really light. It gradually built over the course of the day. Saturday, some heavier wind, more of the prevailing offshore wind that we normally see. A great variety of sailing conditions and lots of racing. It was a home run.”
Competition was fierce in Club 420 junior sailing with 77 boats representing clubs across southeastern Massachusetts sailing 11 races around an outer harbor course. Rasmus Sayre and Mary Morano, top competitors on the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School sailing team, were overall winners, getting to the line first in five of the races.
“One of the neat things was seeing Mary and Raz, he representing the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club and she representing the Edgartown Yacht Club, but they sail together for the high school team,” Mr. Roman said. “They cleaned up, which was really nice to see.”
Max Eberstadt-Beattie and Ben Arquit from the Edgartown Yacht Club were a close second overall. Caroline Elliott and Annabelle Fischer of the Brent Cove Sailing Program in Newport were third.
The Opti racing was spectacular, with 94 junior sailors competing in age classes in courses set in the outer harbor and along the Chappaquiddick shoreline.
In the blue fleet, for sailors age 13–15, there were 34 boats competing for the trophy. Colman Schofield of the Wianno Yacht Club took top honors, winning three of the nine races scored.
Cooper Walsh was second, and Miles Wolff third overall, both from the Edgartown Yacht Club.
A total of 13 boats competed in the red division for 11–12-year-old sailors. Abigail Tindall, sailing for the Edgartown Yacht Club, dominated the nine-race series with four wins. Robert Champ, also of the home club, was second, and Deason Brown, representing the Falmouth Yacht Club, was third.
Six boats sailed in the white division for 10-year-olds, with Conrad Schofield of the Wianno Yacht Club in Osterville the overall winner, followed by Abby Wayne of the Falmouth Yacht Club second, and Jon Ciffolillo of the Beverly Yacht Club third.
In the green division for sailors under the age of 10, Charlie Case, representing the Edgartown Yacht Club, was tops among 39 competitors, winning four of the 11 races. William Anderson of the Falmouth Yacht Club was second, and Tristan Blair, also representing the home club, was third.
In the J/70 series, Roland Vandermeer in Verona was the overall winner with four wins out of the eight races sailed, representing the Edgartown Yacht Club. Mr. Vandermeer just edged out Alex Meleney of the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club, who was second in Truckin’.
A total of 27 boats made the Wianno Senior class very competitive. Joe Lotuff in Smoke emerged on top after two races, scoring a first and a second place finish. He represented the Wianno Yacht Club. Jack Hamilton of the Hyannis Yacht Club took second honors in Mad Jack, and John Fallon in Heritage, also from the Wianno Yacht Club, took third.
“We welcomed a nice sized fleet of Wianno Seniors from the Cape,” Mr. Roman said. “Some have been coming for several generations, sailing over and competing in the regatta. That’s always nice to see.”
Amusing, skippered by Paul Mitchell, was the best of six boats that competed in the Shields class, notching three first place finishes in the seven races scored.
In the Herreshoff 12 1/2 class, Don McLagen of Edgartown Yacht Club was best in Four at Play, recording four wins and three seconds in the seven races.
Rachel Keogh sailed Sandpaper to an overall victory in the Rhodes 19 class, winning three of the eight races scored over the three-day regatta.
Next week attention turns to big boat racing, with two days of Around-the-Buoys racing Thursday and Friday on Nantucket Sound, with the list of registered competitors at 35 boats and growing.
Saturday features the Round-the-Island race, with 67 boats signed up to circumnavigate a 60-mile course around Martha’s Vineyard.
“Good strong numbers,” Mr. Roman said. “Right up there with what we’ve seen in the past. Around-the-Buoy racings continues to build every year. Fingers and toes crossed, we’ll have spectacular sailing conditions for Saturday.”
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