The first-ever Vineyard Herreshoff Cup takes place this weekend. "The spirit of it all is to have fun and enjoy it," Edward Miller said. "We hope this will become an annual event that grows in popularity."
After qualifying for the Fritz Mark trophy race in Hyannis last weekend, the Vineyarders thought they had missed the chance to move on to the national invitational, despite a hard-fought comeback at the end. Now another team has dropped out and Island sailors will race in Cambridge this weekend.
Nat Benjamin’s Juno and Ross Gannon’s Eleda placed first in their class at the Caribbean regatta held over the weekend. Races concluded Monday. Eleda also won the Arne Frisell Prize for greatest attention to structural integrity and safety.
Wow! The new generation of AC 72 yachts (America’s Cup-designed, 72 feet long) are impressive in both design and speed. These new racing machines are sexy, fast and dangerous. They are also exciting and fun to watch at the match race in San Francisco Bay.
Ten sailboats participated in last Saturday’s 25th annual Pat West Gaff Rig and Schooner Race. The race from the outer Vineyard Haven harbor to Tarpaulin Cove and back began at 11 a.m. in light and variable winds. Zoli Clarke and Ryan Payne of Vineyard Haven sailed the Gannon and Benjamin Hazel 18 to victory.
Of the 10 boats, six were schooners. The Soros/DiBiaso team won the schooner class in their 65-foot Gannon and Benjamin schooner Juno.
It was a bright, late summer day as the fleet sailed north from Vineyard Haven on an 18.7-mile course that would take the boats across the sound then off to the east to Wreck Shoal where they would continue on southward and westward legs that would test each skipper’s ability to cope with differing winds and tides. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2013/09/12/fast-and-flawless-sail-wins-moffet-...
The 36th annual George Moffett Race, the premiere end-of-summer sailboat event, returns Saturday, Sept. 7.
The monohull race is a late morning, all afternoon handicapped contest involving sailboats of all sizes, from 16 to more than 40 feet.
Registration is $40, and must be received in the mail no later than August 30. For more information, visit the Holmes Hole Sailing Association website at holmeshole.org.
The fourth of July weekend began and ended with three Holmes Hole SA races that produced five different winners.
Eleven skippers and their crews opted to spend Independence Day on the water in a Thursday evening race that was close with the top five boats finishing all within a minute of each other.
Whit Hanschka’s Sally took first place honors by eight seconds in 34 minutes flat on corrected time on a beautiful evening with 12 boats on the starting line. Mo Flam on Penelope took second followed by Dan Culkin on Magic Time.
Sailors and sailboats of every description will descend on Edgartown and Vineyard Haven this weekend when two big regattas that are mainstay sailing events of summer get under way.
The Edgartown Yacht Club will host its 90th annual regatta, and Sail Martha’s Vineyard will host its annual Vineyard Cup. Both events attract world-class sailors, and the waters from Cow Bay in Edgartown to West Chop in Vineyard Haven will be dotted with colorful sails all weekend.
Masquerade (Division A) and Avanti (Division B) took advantage of a shortened Sunday schedule to win their respective divisions on a foggy, humid day. Commodore Dan Culkin made the early morning call to cancel Sunday’s annual Tarpaulin Cove race and keep the fleet closer to home on Course 1, which was run in reverse — East Chop to West Chop, twice around.
