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.

The first exports from New England to Europe were two cargoes of sassafras, gathered by Martin Pring and his company on Martha’s Vineyard and the neighboring islands, and taken by Pring to England in sloop Speedwell and bark Discoverer, two small vessels. They came over in 1603, setting sail from Milford Haven, April 10th. With the sassafras on board they sailed from the Vineyard August 9th and arrived at Bristol, England, Oct. 2, 1603. Sassafras at the time was held in high esteem for its medicinal qualities.

The deadline for entry into this year’s 35th annual George Moffett Memorial Race is approaching. Friday, Aug. 31, is the last day for entry forms to be mailed to the Holmes Hole Sailing Association.

While the race is still more than a week away, organizers of the event need to do their handicap work in preparation for the race on Saturday, Sept. 8. Last year there were 40 boats participating in the race.

The Holmes Hole Sailing Association continued its Thursday evening series of handicap sailboat racing from Vineyard Haven harbor with a 6 p.m. race on July 26. It was a warm summer evening with a north wind. Eleven boats posted for the start at red nun 6 outside of the Vineyard Haven breakwater for the triangular course

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Mabel made it.

They pulled away from the Coastwise Packet Wharf in Vineyard Haven on Friday, June 13, their oars waggling a bit uncertainly in the air and in the water. Seven days later - late on Friday afternoon - they put the bow of their boat on the shore of a cove some 30 miles north of Manhattan and dropped themselves a bit unsteadily onto hard sand shaded by weeping willows at a park on the Hudson River.

The Holmes Hole Sailing Association concluded its summer season of handicap sailboat racing from Vineyard Haven harbor with a Thursday night race on August 28 and two harbor races on August 31.

The Holmes Hole Sailing Association continued its summer season of handicap sailboat racing from Vineyard Haven Harbor with a Thursday night race on August 14 and a Sound race on August 17.