Competitors are ready to set sail in the 41st Moffett Cup Race Saturday morning, the annual end of season competition sponsored by the Holmes Hole Sailing Association.

New races and new venues highlight the upcoming summer of competitive sailing on Martha’s Vineyard.

A dour day of clouds and threatening rain greeted the Holmes Hole fleet for last Sunday’s annual race to Robinson’s Hole.

Thirteen boats took to the water last Sunday on a glorious post-Fourth of July and Hurricane Arthur visit to race to Tarpaulin Cove. Replicating America’s first yacht race of 1833, HHSA’s yearly rendezvous race to Tarpaulin Cove is always a treat when the weather behaves.

West northwest winds and a flooding tide combined to create a tough go on Sunday as the Holmes Hole fleet took to the Sound for two races. HHSA racers have already seen more of Course #2 in 2014 than in the previous 10 years, and the elements made it memorable.

Charlie Felder, longtime manager at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club and the co-owner of a new J/70, got the Holmes Hole Sailing Association summer series underway last Sunday with a first-place finish (A Division). Eleven boats came to the line for a noon start at Buoy 6 on a stunning Vineyard day.

The Holmes Hole Sailing Association kicked off the summer season on June 14 with its first-ever opening-weekend potluck supper, followed by an annual tune-up race on Sunday, June 15.