Edgartown Yacht Club's Edgartown Race Weekend - An Extra Day for Buoy Racing, New Divisions, and Prestigious Designations

EDGARTOWN, MASS., MARTHA’S VINEYARD (March 18, 2013)--The Edgartown Yacht Club has added an extra day to its 2013 Big Boat Buoy Races (BBBR), which were inaugurated in 2012 as a one-day partner event to the club’s famously popular ’Round the Island Race. Now the club, located on the renowned island retreat of Martha’s Vineyard, can offer three full days of racing as part of its annual Edgartown Race Weekend. The event, scheduled for Wednesday through Sunday, July 17-21, is for IRC, PHRF, Double-Handed, Cruising and Classic sailboats. After two days of the Big Boat Buoy Races on Thursday and Friday, Mount Gay will sponsor a Friday night “jump-up” before the ’Round the Island Race makes its own splash on Saturday. A Welcome Reception on Wednesday and Prize Givings on both Friday and Sunday will round out the schedule.

Round the Island Race 2009 (Photo Credit Michael Berwind)

“We had 29 boats at the inaugural Big Boat Buoy Races in 2012 and 74 boats in the ’Round the Island Race,” said Event Chair Sal Giordano. “With the addition of a Classics Division this year, we expect more boats in the buoy races and a boost in attendance for the ’Round the Island Race, as well.”

Giordano explained that the Big Boat Buoy Races are now sanctioned as part of the prestigious U.S. IRC Gulf Stream Series and the ’Round the Island Race, scored separately, is part of the New England Lighthouse Series for PHRF yachts. Ned Brooks, Commodore of Edgartown Yacht Club, also pointed out that the ’Round the Island Race has doubled in size over the past three years, and devotees of that event convinced The Club that the market would happily bear an expansion into buoy racing.

Edgartown Yacht Club (Photo Credit Michael Berwind)

“As more big boats came to Edgartown for the ’Round the Island Race, the more their crews wanted to enjoy Martha’s Vineyard, and take home more silver,” said Brooks. “The response to our efforts has been electric. “

First held in the summer of 1938, the Edgartown Yacht Club’s ’Round the Island Race was inspired by a similar race around the Isle of Wight that has been held in Cowes, England every year since 1931. Covering 54.7 miles, it passes over Nantucket Sound, the Atlantic Ocean and Vineyard Sound and by seven lighthouses as it circumnavigates, clockwise, the 100 square miles that make up Martha’s Vineyard. (The race around the Isle of Wight covers 50 miles and has become the fourth largest sporting event in the United Kingdom.)

Round the Island Race 2007 (Photo Credit Michael Berwind)

Edgartown Yacht Club has a long history of providing exceptional yacht racing in the waters around Martha’s Vineyard. With roots going back to the turn of the 20th century, the club was officially founded in 1905 by racing members of the original “Home Club,” to which many prominent summer and permanent residents—both racing and non-racing—belonged. The current clubhouse, completed in 1927, sits magnificently at the foot of Main Street, where in the days of old, the town’s whaling ships berthed.

In 2013, Edgartown Yacht Club will host, in addition to Edgartown Race Weekend, its 90th Annual Regatta for one-design boats (July 11-13), the Farr 40 North American Championship (July 24-27), the Herreshoff 12.5 Championship (August 2-4), and the 20th running of the Annual 12 Metre Regatta (August 9-11).

The Big Boat Buoy Races and the ’Round the Island Race each have their own Notices of Race and entry forms, but there is no additional entry fee to compete in the buoy races.

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